City of Love
by Becoming Akane
Summary: One morning, Io wakes up from a dream about his childhood friendship with Ryuu that he hoped would be forgotten forever. When several students of Binan High School are invited on a trip to Paris, the Battle Lovers included, Io does not know how to cope with his growing feelings for Ryuu, even as they wander about the city of love. Ryuu x Io, slight En x Atsushi
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: If I owned Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu Love, Ryuu x Io would be canon! Then again, who said it isn't...**

* * *

Before the age of twelve, Io Naruko had never felt any true fear. He never expected that something so small could frighten him so. Really, he never thought that anything would frighten him more than a decrease in stocks, so of course he was very surprised to learn that a certain pink-haired boy could twist his mind around as much as he did.

It happened to be the only summer that his parents had ever sent him away to a summer camp (one that was not in a different country, that is), and he didn't know exactly what to expect. He didn't know whether it was going to be calm and carefree, as advertised, or dirty and panicked – the kind of camp where the campers were all unwilling teenagers and the leaders would secretly smoke behind the latrines. It was just his luck that it happened to be the later of the two.

It wasn't really that bad at first. No one really spoke to him – though they made fun of him behind his back – and, of course, the leaders couldn't care what he did. While the other boys played sports, pranks and made dirty jokes on the second, Io found himself with his calculator, notebook and laptop, trying very hard to get wifi from around the camp.

It was the last trip of the summer before the camp let out, and Io was rather excited to learn that it was coming to an end. At least, he was before he learned that the last trip was a camping trip in the woods in which he and four other boys would be sharing one small tent, while all of the other campers divided themselves amongst their friends. He was very afraid.

He patiently watched as the other campers began putting up their tents, looking around every few minutes, checking for a head of pink hair amidst the others. Ryuu always ran off somewhere when he had the chance, enjoying every bit of the no-rules statement that seemed to apply throughout the camp. He laughed, ran around, even talked to some of the other boys. Io admired him for that.

Ryuu was the main reason that he even chose this camp to begin with. Io had never spent very much time with his friend during his summers, so, before he turned thirteen, he wanted to spend his last summer as a child with his best friend, even if only for a few weeks. Plus, Ryuu was worth it.

He was the best friend in the world, Io thought.

Once night finally fell, Io found himself trying very hard to sleep while all of the other tenants of his tent chatted away, laughing at their own innuendos and odd jokes. Io slammed his face against his pillow as many times as he could before he sat up and climbed out of the tent, unnoticed or ignored by the laughing boys. It wasn't even the noise and talking that bothered him, really. It was what they were talking about.

Not knowing exactly where he was supposed to go now, in the middle of the night, he set off to a nearby brook, only a few short strides away from their campsite. He moved passed a collection of tree branches and thick bushes until he found himself in the tiny hidden clearing concealing the brook from the trashed campers.

"What are you doing here?" Io jolted at the sound of his pink-haired friend's voice, unknown to him that Ryuu was pacing around the clearing, holding his cellphone up towards the sky.

"I should be asking you the same thing," Io said , shivering to the slight summer breeze.

"Well, I heard someone say that you could get internet nearby, and, well, it _is_ a campsite after all, so I decided to check it out," Ryuu said, waving his pink phone at Io. "No luck."

Io laughed. Ryuu could never be without his phone for too long.

"Your turn," Ryuu said.

"Um..." Io began, "The guys in my tent were being very loud and, well, they also began talking about all the girls they've been with." Io could feel himself turning red.

"They _are_ older," Ryuu said, not noticing Io's blushing expression.

"I know, it's just kind of awkward," Io said, feeling even more embarrassed.

"Oh," Ryuu said, finally noticing Io's embarrassment. "Haven't you ever... kissed anyone?"

Io looked down at his feet, unable to meet Ryuu's eyes. Why was he so embarrassed? It's not as if everyone has been kissed at his age anyway. "No."

Ryuu moved a little bit closer to Io, moving his hand to Io's shoulder. For some reason, Io couldn't help but notice how warm his shoulder suddenly felt.

"That's alright," he said and moved to meet Io's eyes. "I haven't either, you know."

"But," Io said, "You're always surrounded by girls. You're always texting them and talking about them."

"Yes, but texting is not the same as kissing, you know." Ryuu smiled and gestured to his phone once more.

"So, you've never done _anything _with a girl?" Io inquired, not knowing where this conversation could be going.

Ryuu's hand slowly began rubbing Io's shoulder, trying to comfort him, but instead, Io's face seemed to only get redder and redder. "Nope," he finally said.

Io turned to face him, noticing that his cheeks were also beginning to get a little pink. "That's alright," Io said. "You should be comfortable with the girls that you kiss," he whispered, shyly.

Ryuu turned him around so that they were both facing each other. "That's true," he said and smiled.

"I'm just afraid that I won't be any good when the time comes," Io said in a quite voice once more. He suddenly felt really aware of how close he and Ryuu were standing.

"I'm sure that you'll be great!" Ryuu smiled. He began to blush a darker shade of pink, so that his cheeks matched his hair. "Y-you know," he stammered, "W-we could, I mean, like, practice." He suddenly turned bright red and began to look around and laugh oddly. "I, well, I just thought that maybe we might as well get this whole 'first kiss' business over with, you know. It's not like it would mean anything, since we're two guys and all." He turned back to Io, who was staring at him with intense curiosity.

"Kind of like an experiment?" Io suggested. Neither of them were gay, after all, so it's not as though it would actually be a real kiss – just practice for the real thing.

"Yes, something like that," Ryuu said and shrugged. He placed his hand on Io's neck, then slowly traced it up his neck with just the tips of his fingers brushing the light, supple skin of Io's throat. Io gulped, feeling the heat off of Ryuu's fingertips burn like fire in its wake, spreading all across his body.

_That's odd, _he thought to himself. Just moments ago, he was shivering and now, he felt as though he was going to burn down at any second. Why did Ryuu's hand, his touch, feel so good? At the same time, why did it feel so wrong?

_No,_ he told himself. _This is just an experiment, just practice. _

"Do you want to? Get it over with, I mean," Ryuu asked again and smiled out of embarrassment.

"It's just an experiment," was all that Io said, unknown to him whether he was warning Ryuu, giving him the answer, or assuring himself. He guess all three.

Ryuu gulped as well, as he slowly began trailing his hand up to Io's cheek with light touches. Io, unable to hold it in any longer, let out a tiny, quiet sigh, hoping that Ryuu hadn't heard it. Ryuu gave no indication to doing so, his hand finally pausing on Io's blushing cheek.

He slowly lowered himself to meet Io's eyes, their lips hovering only an inch apart. Ryuu shut is eyes as he closed the gap between them and his lips met Io's. Io, shocked at first, closed his eyes as well and leaned forward into the kiss, feeling the warmth and softness of Ryuu's pale pink lips. In that very moment, he wanted just a little bit more. He wanted Ryuu to open his mouth just a little bit, he wanted him to lick his bottom lip and demand entrance. He wanted Ryuu.

Finally, after what seemed like hours and had them both gasping for air, they broke apart, both obviously embarrassed. Ryuu recovered quickly, wiping the confusion off of his face and replacing it with an expression of ease and joy. Io suddenly felt cold without the warmth of the other boy pressed against him. He shivered, but not at the lack of warmth. How could he be thinking of his best friend in that way? He, the perfect son with the perfect life, he did not want to be a pervert. But, how could it be wrong when it felt so right?

"Well, that was easier than I though. See, now you won't be afraid about your next kiss anymore!" Ryuu called out brightly.

Io nodded. "Yes, exactly. Thanks. I hope that wasn't too hard on you," he said, without noticing the innuendo. As soon as the words left his lips, he regreted them and wanted nothing more than to take them back. He, Io Naruko, was actually regretful – this was a whole night of firsts.

"No, it was fine. Now I won't be scared anymore either and can kiss all the girls I want." Ryuu smiled charmingly, already taking out his pink phone to look through his contacts.

For the first time in his life, Io felt genuinely afraid. He didn't know what to say or do or think. He was lost and he was afraid. He was afraid of his pink-haired, girly best friend.

* * *

Io groaned loudly as he tumbled out of bed and on the floor. He slowly got up and began patting down his hair. Mornings like this only meant one thing – he had a nightmare. He sat down on his bed as his memories of last night's dream began to come back to him.

"Why am I dreaming about that now?" he asked himself out loud. "That happened four years ago. It shouldn't even matter anymore," he said to himself. He reached over to his nightstand and pulled off his laptop. Might as well brighten up his morning after that dreadful night by viewing the status of a few stocks. Io smiled, satisfied that, as always, they were only increasing. Maybe this day would not be so bad. After all, one stupid dream about something that happened so long ago – something that meant nothing, really – should not be able to ruin his day so easily.

He felt blood rushing to his cheeks as he recalled last night's dream. The feeling of his best friend's hands on his arms, on his throat, on his cheek. Ryuu's pink hair brushing against his nose lightly as their lips touched, his breath growing closer and closer to Io's skin before closing the tiny gap between the two of them.

For a second, he thought of what else could have happened had they not broken apart, had they decided to take it a step forward. He imagined the two of them breaking apart for a moment, slowly beginning to move away from each other when, suddenly, their eyes would meet, their hands would find each other once more and their lips would touch. Suddenly, Io imagined Ryuu, biting on his bottom lip, demanding entrance inside, which Io allowed. He thought that he could practically feel Ryuu's tongue slipping past his lips, just as Io's tongue began to slip into his. Their tongues intertwined, feeling parts of each other that Io had never thought that they would.

He began to imagine Ryuu's hands running over his shoulders, slowly rubbing them before moving them lower, onto Io's back. He could feel his back beginning to heat up at the thought of Ryuu's hands running against it, moving lower. They seemed to find their way down his back and up his shirt, pressing skin on skin. His hands would feel like flames, Io knew.

Io let out a tiny sigh and immediately regretted it. Io Naruko does not sigh, especially when thinking of another man! No, he's calm and composed – not vulnerable and hormonal. How could he let something like this happen? And yet, he couldn't help but let his mind wander back to his fantasy. The imaginary feeling of Ryuu's hands on his bare back.

_It seems... good_, he thought, though he knew it was the complete opposite. He wasn't gay, after all, and nor was Ryuu. He was always texting girls and talking about how they all love him, which of course was obvious. He was kind, gentile, cute, and, on top of that, he was charming. Really, what girl wouldn't want him?

Images of his best friend began to flash in Io's mind. Ryuu, as he smiled at a classmate or laughed at a joke. Ryuu, as he tried so hard to impress all of the other boys at their school each month for the Pretty Boy contest. The look on his face when he realized that he got another vote in his favor. And then, suddenly, the images began to change. Ryuu in his swimming trunks. Ryuu in the changing room after gym class. Ryuu at the bathhouse.

"No!" Io exclaimed sharply. He was _not_ going to be one of those perverted friends who you can't even go to a bathhouse with, fearing that he'll stare at you parts the entire time. It's normal for teenage boys to think of their friends like that after such crazy dreams. People have these thoughts all the time. It's not like Io's were any different or special.

Suddenly, as if noticing for the first time today that it was a school day, Io snapped his attention to the alarm clock on his night stand. He had turned his alarm off so that he good get a nice rest the previous night. That didn't really work out as well as he thought it would.

_Damn_, he thought as he quickly rushed to his bathroom. He was going to be late again! He realized then that today was not going to be a good day after all.

"It had to be that stupid alarm clock," Io mumbled to himself. There was no other explanation for him to have had that dream last night _and_ to have woken up so late. He was pretty sure that the alarm clock was out to get revenge for all of the times he's smacked it back to sleep.

* * *

He quickly plopped down in his seat, just one minute before the class would start. He was so close to being late that morning. It was only because of his limousine that he was able to make it to school with a minute to spare.

Just as he settled down in his seat, someone sat down in the chair ahead of him and turned to face him.

"You were almost late this morning!" Ryuu chanted happily in front of Io.

"So? You are late all the time," Io said and rolled his eyes.

"Exactly! But you're not me. So, what made you almost late then?" Ryuu raised his eyebrows.

"A problem with my account that I had to fix. I had to stay up all night," Io lied, hoping that Ryuu couldn't notice the tiny blush that was spreading on his face.

"Oh, money. Of course. What else is new?" Ryuu said and smiled. Io tried very hard not to notice how his smile always made his entire face brighten up. "So, have you heard the news?"

"What news?" That was odd. Io was certain that he always knew everything that went on around him. That was his job – to know and compare the status of his surroundings and think of how to use them to make money. It was more fun than it sounded – in his eyes, anyway.

"The trip to Paris. The school is sponsoring a fair and students who make the most money during the fair can participate in a trip to Paris!" Ryuu said happily and grinned.

Make the most money. Making the most money was Io's golden rule. He lived by the vow to make more money! He didn't really care that much over a trip to Paris, but the opportunity to compete in making money in a short amount of time made Io shiver with joy.

"I knew you'd love it! They announced it this morning," said an overly excited Ryuu, now noticing his friend's matching expression. "So, then, we can both participate! The stands are supposed to be in groups of two or three, so I thought maybe you could be my partner? I mean, I heard that French girls are supposed to be really hot, so -"

"Alright," Io cut him off and smiled, already calculating the most efficient ways to make the most amounts of money. With Ryuu in the picture, he suddenly had a whole other range of possible sales techniques.

"Somehow, I feel like I just signed myself a death wish," Ryuu said warily, watching the expression Io's face change from that of excitement to calculating, which was very rarely a good – or very safe, for that matter – sign.

"Yes, I think you have," Io said with a light smiled. The joy of making money was such an underrated one. Alright, alright, so maybe the favor of one day can't be judged simply by a terrible morning, Io decided. So far, at least one good thing has come out of today.

* * *

**A/N: This is my first fan fiction (that I've published, anyway), and I just really wanted to write something for this anime because I think that it deserves more recognition than it receives. I know that the prologue wasn't exactly great, but I hope that it wasn't too awful.**

**So, anyway, I am already writing the next chapter and, if anyone notices any mistakes in my writing, please tell me so that I can fix them! ^-^**


	2. C'est Paris

**Disclaimer: If I owned Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu Love, it would be a proud yaoi and Ryuu x Io would be very much canon! Then again, we never really know...**

* * *

Io coughed nervously as Ryuu leaned upon his shoulder and snored quietly. Once in a while, he would accidentally brush his hand over his best friend's sleeping form while trying to retrieve something or change his position. Ryuu always felt very warm, Io noticed. His feathering breaths would make Io's heart drop like it only ever did when his stocks did the very same. Why would that be though?

Ryuu mumbled something in his sleep and slowly rolled over to sleep on the other side of his seat, leaving Io feeling very cold all of a sudden. He missed Ryuu's warmth already. Nervously, as though his touch could wake the sleeping teenager, Io inched his arm closer and closer to Ryuu's on his armrest, just to be able to be in contact him and feel that same heat again. Ryuu visibly shivered just as their arms touched, all of a sudden moving back to his previous spot on Io's shoulder. As much as he denied it to himself, Io could not help but release a sigh of relief as he rested his chin overtop of a head of pink hair. Ryuu always smelled of strawberries. Io sucked in his breath as the lovely sent of a bright summer morning in a field of fresh strawberries began to fill his nose. Never mind that somewhat disturbing smell of machinery and puke that was his aiplane seat.

No, he can't get distracted like this! Paris is not a place for fun – it's a place of business. But, then again, every place is a place for business. The only reason he was even looking forward to going to Paris was because of the great opportunity that he would have to examine such a different environment and the thriving of their businesses first-hand. Really, who could pass up such an opportunity?

Of course, deep inside, he realized that there was a second reason that he was looking forward to going on this trip. He was invited, of course, to go along with Ryuu as well as Yumoto, Atsushi and En – the three who had won fourth place in school's fair, becoming one of the eight teams that was invited to the trip. Io and Ryuu had won first place, naturally. He wanted to go alongside his entire club, all of his friends. He couldn't really leave the Battle Lovers – especially Ryuu – all by themselves. Sure, he wasn't always as helpful as he could be, were he to try harder, but he did have to protect Ryuu. Who knew what kind of trouble he would get into if all of the others let him?

It had only been four hours into the flight, but already most of the team was tired and bored. Ryuu was excited for the first two hours. After that, the excitement kind of just wore off and he began to whine about how many more hours he would have to sit in the same place before they would arrive.

All of a sudden, a small, balled up piece of tissue flew across the aisle and hit Io dead in the eye.

"Naru-chan!" Yumoto called out across the lane, making everyone in the area turn their heads towards the unwanted noise. A series of shushing followed their annoyed stares. "Oh, right," Yumoto said as he noticed all of the unwanted stares. "Hey, Naru-chan," Yumoto whispered this time, leaning over his armrest, as far across the aisle as he could. "How much longer is the flight? When will we be in France?" Yumoto whispered loudly enough for Io to hear.

"Eight more hours," Io said sadly. He slowly rifled through his economy research and recording papers.

"What? Eight more hours? Really? So, what time will it be there when we arrive? It'll be a different time there, won't it?" Yumoto interrogated, eagerly smiling and waiting for his answers.

"It will still be morning there, so at about ten," Io answered and offered a wary smile back.

Over across the aisle, Atsushi rolled over on from En, tapping Yumoto on the shoulder. "Yumoto," he said in a dry and tired voice, yawning. "You should go to sleep."

"Sleep? It's only about ten-thirty. I'm not tired," Yumoto said and laughed, once more receiving shushing from the people behind him.

All day, the five of them had been running around the airport with all of their bags, following their classmates and supervisors – or, at least, Mr. Tawarayama and Wombat, who was very confused on which gate they were supposed to be at, having never been to an airport before. Io himself was pretty tired from running to a different gate every few minutes. Of course, he couldn't bring himself to fall asleep with Ryuu in his arms. Ryuu always made him all too aware of everything and everyone around him, it seemed.

"Hey, where is Wom-san? I think he might be lonely without me to cuddle him and I'm sure that I would fall asleep much faster with him in my arms!" Yumoto wrapped his arms around himself and laughed lightly. Io couldn't help but smile at how easy laughter and happiness came to the little blonde, and yet, at the same time, he felt somewhat sorry for Wombat and was glad for him – or Mr. Tawarayama – to be sitting with the other teacher supervisors.

"He's with Mr. Tawarayama," Atsushi said, though he could barely be heard. "Go to sleep, Yumoto. You'll feel much better when we land."

"Alright, alright! I'll try," Yumoto said as he turned over to face Atsushi, who was already falling asleep against En's shoulder. "But only if I get to cuddle you all night!"

Atsushi considered the two options in his head and decided that a hyper fifteen-year-old who wouldn't let any of them sleep was worse than being awkwardly hugged all night by a kid who could squeeze the life out of you if you let him, and agreed to Yumoto's suggestion. Taking one for the team.

_Good _luck, Io mouthed at Atsushi as he turned to give him one last glance before being locked in Yumoto's deadly grip. Atsushi leaned over to his left and settled down on En's chest unknowingly. Io thought that he could see both of them smile briefly as Atsushi nestled his cheek against En's shirt. What was that all about?

Io was suddenly very aware of the boy lying on his chest as he too nestled against Io's shoulder. Io gently placed his hand on Ryuu's hair and ran his fingers through it. For some reason, it was almost relaxing to feel the downy pink locks against his fingers. He began to twist one of the locks around his finger, not even noticing that he was doing so. Suddenly, the boy on top of him shook, just barely enough for Io to feel it. He looked back down on his friend when a surprising sound left Ryuu's lips.

He sighed. Or, at least it seemed like a sigh at first. What began a a very quiet sigh steadily became a hushed moan, almost as if he was aware of Io's fingers in his hair. Io immediately began to feel hot once more and could feel his facing beginning to change color. Even though he knew better, he faced Ryuu's sleeping form again. A faint blush was beginning to tint Ryuu's pale cheeks as well. Io didn't notice that his lock on Ryuu's hair didn't loosen or break free, but instead tightened around the small bits of hair.

Ryuu moaned once more, this time loudly enough for it to be clear to Io what exactly was coming out of his lips as he made a couple more breathy noises. Io couldn't help but wonder what he was dreaming about. He considered the blush on his cheeks and was immediately taken aback, moving closer to the window and further away from Ryuu.

This only made Ryuu move closer and slide his arms around one of Io's, still soundly asleep. Io wanted nothing more than to settle into Ryuu's hold on him, to be able to touch Ryuu until he fell asleep, but he knew what a terrible idea that would be. After all, they were best friends, in public and both boys. Also, there were those odd moments when Io couldn't even stand being in the same room as Ryuu in fear of accidentally brushing his arm against him and feeling that unwanted heat where heat should never be. Io knew that he should not be feeling that way and he knew that, were he to give into the impulses, the odd, perverted thoughts and feelings would only get worse and worse. He did not want to be like that. He didn't want to loose the greatest friend he could have over some pointless teenage hormones.

Io suddenly felt Ryuu cringe above him, unconsciously moving his face to nestle against Io's arm. Ryuu's sleepy expression began to turn into a hesitant one, his face slowly becoming flushed as he whined a little bit. Io felt like the best option in this situation was to jump out of the plane. Of course, seeing as the only exits were locked and the window was bolted tightly to the rest of the airplane, this option was not really available.

A few more minutes of Ryuu's odd sounds began to twist with Io's mind, filling his mind with a multitude of theories on their origin. There was no way that they were just random, just something that happened when the pink-haired teenager slept. As he continued to ponder about what was going on in Ryuu's mind, he – unknown to himself – began to move closer towards the sleeping form beside him. He hadn't realized as much until, all of a sudden, he could feel Ryuu's gasping breath against his collar.

Time stopped for only a moment as he considered his next course of action. Really, there shouldn't even be any thought to it. But he hesitated to move away from the heated boy. Instead, he chose to slowly rest his head against Ryuu's. Locks of the other boy's hair brushed against Io's cheek and, for some reason, all he could do was breath their scent in. And, finally after a couple more minutes, his eyes began to flutter and he slowly drifted into a deep, peaceful sleep.

* * *

Io found himself in his dream world once more, as he sat up on a fancy king-sized bed, bewildered at his surroundings. Where exactly was he this time? He doesn't remember ever being in a room like this before, therefore it couldn't be another embarrassing memory. Maybe it was the fact that sleeping in an uncomfortable airplane seat and it was giving him hopes of a nice, comfortable bed. He didn't know, though, why his bed would have rose petals on it. Or why his shirt was unbuttoned.

His attention quickly shot up as a door on one side of the large room opened up. Slowly, an unknown figure entered the room and closed the door immediately after themselves. Io squinted at the figure, no matter that the room was bright and his vision was perfect. The first thing he noticed was the truffled pink hair of the familiar figure, followed by two matching chocolate-colored eyes and a notorious smile.

"What – why are you here?" Io immediately asked, noticing that the young man was wearing less clothing than he should.

Ryuu smiled. "Why? Did you miss me?" he asked with a wink. Io blushed madly. Was this that kind of dream? No, no, this couldn't be _that_ kind of dream. After all, Ryuu was in it, to begin with.

Ryuu sashayed over to the bed and draped his robe lower, under his shoulders. Before he realized it, Io was reaching out towards the supple skin, pink from a fresh shower. As Ryuu sat down onto the covers, Io's hand gently brushed against his naked shoulder. The feeling of his skin made his entire body shiver with delight and embarrassment. The other boy laughed and moved even closer towards him. At this movement, Io moved backward a little bit until he felt the headboard at his back. Ryuu only came closer, but, this time, Io had nowhere to run. Ryuu smiled and leaned in until their foreheads touched. Io sucked in his breath and leaned forward warily, hesitant for a moment, until Ryuu reached up and laced his hands together behind Io's neck, pulling him forward.

When their lips touched, desire overruled apprehension. Io leaned into the kiss further, pulling Ryuu along, bringing him down on top of him. Suddenly, there was no room. There was no bed, there was no door. There was only Ryuu. His soft, pink lips that matched his cheeks and his hair. Ryuu's roped slipped down further, Io's hands beginning to trace circles down Ryuu's bare back. Ryuu smiled against Io's lips, making Io smile as well. Ryuu used this to his advantage and licked his lips. He leaned down onto Io and slowly began to nibble on Io's bottom lip, demanding entrance. And Io, of course, conceded.

* * *

Io woke up, gasping for air and wet with sweat. He leaned forward in his seat and rested his forehead on the seat before him. It was only a dream. It was only a dream. It was only a dream. And, no, it was not just any kind of dream. It was a teenager's dream. It was nothing more than a mindless, youthful dream that was simply because of built up stress and a lack of any social life – outside of the Battle Lovers, obviously, but that didn't really constitute as anything other than fighting loveless monsters. This had nothing to do with Ryuu, and Io could swear on that. Really, Ryuu was only there because Io had fallen asleep so close to him. Obviously, there was no connection.

"So, you're finally awake?" Ryuu smiled down at the shocked teenager at his side.

"Um... yes. I just, I didn't sleep well," Io said and tried not to look Ryuu in the eyes. Those chocolate eyes that winked at him in such a flirty fashion.

"Really? You slept so soundly though! And, when I woke up, you were even smiling in your sleep. Were you dreaming about anything?" Ryuu inquired as he pulled the table-top from the chair in front of his. It was time for breakfast, after all.

Io instantly began shaking his head. "No, no, not a good dream," Io said in a cracking voice. Did Ryuu suspect? Did he know what Io had dreamed about. Oh, he hoped that this wasn't one of the times that he talked in his sleep. That would just be too cruel.

"Are you sure? You seemed pretty excited about it, if you know what I mean," Ryuu said and winked, causing Io to fly back against his window. Why, why would his body betray him that way? And in his sleep, no less?

"No, relax! I was only joking. What are you getting so fired up about?" Ryuu cocked his head to the side and laughed. "All you did was smile, giggle and drool on my shirt."

"I apologize for the trouble," Io said in the most calm way that he could.

"Why? Was it _that_ kind of dream?" Ryuu wiggled his eyebrows.

"What? No!" Io raised his voice, still wary of the people sitting around them, and turned away. "No, of course not," he said, quieter this time.

"Alright, alright, you don't have to be so defensive," Ryuu cried out and backed away into his seat.

"Calm down!" Io shouted as quietly as he possibly could – which was easier thought than done – and grabbed onto the slightly shocked Ryuu.

"I'm calm! You're not calm, though. How bad was this dream?" Ryuu questioned as he pulled Io hands off of his shoulders and looked around the plane, cautious of wandering eyes – for once.

"It wasn't that bad," Io lied, trying to be smooth about it. Was it really that bad though? For some reason, when he recalled the dream, disgust was not the first negative thought to pop into his head. Outright, the first thought was fear. And fear was not a very comfortable thing to feel, especially when regarding his best friend. Usually, Ryuu would make him feel safe, happy, and overall, comfortable. He never had to worry about the two of them drifting apart, because he knew that they would always find their way back to each other.

"Do you mind me asking what it was about?" Ryuu had calmed down in a matter of seconds and settled into his seat, patiently awaiting the green-haired boy's reply.

Io knew that, though it wouldn't be too difficult to lie to him, Ryuu would not be able to let this go until he got an answer that satisfied him enough to drop the subject. He began to think through all of the crafty lies that he could spew, and that would make this pass as soon as possible, but – for once in his life – he really didn't know what to say.

"Well, I -" just as he began to mumble through an excuse, he was interrupted by one of the flight attendants, rolling the breakfast cart down the aisle.

"Would you gentlemen like something to eat?" the flight attendant asked kindly. Io had never been so grateful to be interrupted before. He sighed with relief and mentally praised the woman who just saved him from a whole lot of embarrassment.

"Yes, sure!" Ryuu said, happily turning his attention on the two breakfast trays that were laid before him. "Thank you." Io grabbed for his tray before Ryuu could get his hands on it and thanked the server as well. Once he ripped through the thin plastic package, took out the plastic knife, and opened up his butter packet, was Io finally ready to relax back and enjoy his meal.

"So, what were you going to say?" Ryuu muttered through his mini baguette, spewing crumbs as he spoke. "Oh, sorry," he said, covering his mouth while he was chewing through his breakfast.

"What?" Io questioned, attempting to act nonchalant and calm about the matter. He had hoped that Ryuu would just drop this. "Nothing," he finally settled on. Very professional.

"Come on, what's so bad that you can't talk to me about it?" Ryuu asked again, this time shoving him a little with his elbow.

"Nothing. It was just a decline in stocks is all. You wouldn't be interested." Io smiled the tiniest smile that he possibly could. Finally, something that he knew Ryuu wouldn't care for. Why hadn't he thought of this before?

"Of course it was," Ryuu laughed out, "Isn't it always about something like that." He didn't ask it, but instead said it like it was a statement. Io knew that he always talked about money and he knew that it seemed as though he cared about that above all else, but really, he did care for other things just as much. He cared about his grades, after all. He cared about his future. But, of course, over all that, he cared about his best friend.

Io looked back at his smiling friend, as he too began to deny a smile that was creeping onto his lips. His gaze slowly moved towards Ryuu's, trying very hard to not get pulled in by his dazzling smile which would always make his eyes sparkle.

* * *

"Wasn't that flight great?" Yumoto called out just as the five of them were getting on the bus. Seeing him like this, it was almost as if he hadn't just spent twelve hours on an airplane. Then again, he was definitely glad to be able to move after that entire flight.

"It was a pretty good flight," Atsushi admitted and yawned. He looked happier that morning than he had before they went on the flight. Io considered that it was good that at least a few of them actually enjoyed the flight. He was simply glad that it was over. Ryuu seemed to be enjoying the airport a lot more than the flight. Every time that a young girl would walk by the group of students, Ryuu's eyes would wander to their long legs or their bleached hair or their short skirts. For some reason, Io did not really enjoy it when Ryuu's eyes wandered that way, though he was not exactly sure why it bothered him as much as it did. Or at all.

On the bus, En quickly plopped down on one of the farthest seats on the bus. It seemed as though he was already tired from having stood and walked around the Paris airport, even if his expression didn't give him away. Atsushi slipped down on the seat next to him, blushing a little bit when his hand brushed over En's thigh. He pulled it back suddenly, as if the feeling of En made his hand burn.

"So, what will the hotel be like?" Yumoto asked as he sat down next to Mr. Tawarayama and Wombat. "Is there going to be a swimming pool there?"

"It's a very decent hotel," Wombat said through Mr. Tawarayama, in his usual monotone voice. "But, no, there's no swimming pool. That didn't fit in the school's budget."

"Of course," Io began, hearing his favorite trigger word, "The very cost of a trip like this would probably take up much more money than what was made during the fair, though that obviously did help the payment quite a lot."

"You've only been here for a couple of minutes and you're already working," Atsushi said and laughed a little bit. En smiled behind him.

"So, what are we going to do when we get to the hotel?" Yumoto asked cheerfully, hanging over the back of Ryuu's seat.

"You will be going to your rooms," Wombat said as Tawarayama pulled out a couple of papers from his suitcase. "One of you will probably have to room with someone else."

"It's okay! I can sleep with En and Atsushi! We can all cuddle!" Yumoto called out and pointed at the two stunned Battle Lovers across the aisle.

"We never said that we would share a room," En said calmly. Atsushi nodded in agreement and smiled. Neither one of them seemed to object to Yumoto's other odd suggestion.

"Come on! We all know you two will share a room. Just like Io and I will share a room," Ryuu said and slung his arm casually around Io's shoulders. Io couldn't help but feel embarrassed that Ryuu was comparing their friendship to that of En and Atsushi. He considered whether he was the only one who had his wonders about En and Atsushi's relationship and to what extent their friendship went to.

"Then, maybe I can cuddle with you guys?" Yumoto suggested again.

"Maybe, but I'm sure you'd rather be with those two," Ryuu said and gestured to En and Atsushi. "Or with Wombat."

"Wom-san!" Yumoto yelled out happily, making heads turn as he attacked Womabt with a bone-crushing hug. "That's a great idea," he cheered. "You can just leave Mr. Tawarayama somewhere and come snuggle with me!"

Wombat tried hard to escape the hug without grabbing attention from the surrounding students and staff, but it was no use. After a few attempts, he simply just gave up. There was no escaping from Yumoto.

"You two probably just want to be alone, right?" Atsushi asked Io and Ryuu helpfully, trying to simultaneously calm Yumoto down.

"What? No, gross!" Ryuu said, his cheeks tinting pink as he turned away in awe.

"Huh?" Atsushi asked, not quite understanding Ryuu's reaction at first. "Oh, no, that 's not really what I meant," he began when he finally realized what he had been suggesting. "I mean, it would be completely fine if you – never mind. I just meant that, Io is always so busy with his finances and you with your ... _girls_, so I assumed that you wouldn't want Yumoto around to bother you," he said genitally. Ryuu raised his eyebrows as Atsuhi had hesitated on the word "girls" but just as he was about to object, Yumoto interrupted.

"I wouldn't bother them!" he said sadly, like a little lost puppy.

"I didn't mean that!" Atsushi cried, his tone equal to that of Yumoto.

"Calm down," En smiled and rolled his eyes at the blue-haired boy next to him. "This always happens," he added with a slight smirk. Io nodded with understanding as Atsushi turned away and blushed, mumbling something about how that isn't true and how En was being mean. En turned a bored expression towards the embarrassed boy and smirked. He calmly moved closer towards the shorter boy and pressed their shoulders together. Atsushi smiled a little bit and slowly – and undetectably – moved closer to En. Io could not help but wonder about those two once more.

For the remainder of the bus drive – which luckily was not that long – Yumoto, Ryuu, and Atsushi gasped and cheered as the bus drove building by building. Even En and Wombat seemed impressed. Io was impressed too, of course, but it amazed him just as much to see the expression on his face change from simple smiles and amusement, to huge grins and outright laughter and gasping. Each time that his face lit up, Io felt his own mouth break into a smile. It wasn't that he was not appreciating the beautiful, western buildings which the bus drove by, but that sweet grin Ryuu seemed to get every time another old building passed the window – and as it was, that was every other second – was worth just as much.

* * *

"This is awesome!" Yumoto yelled out and pounced onto the nearest bed. He spread himself down on the covers and began rolling around them.

"Why don't you see your own room?" Io asked, not really liking the idea of Yumoto rubbing around all over his bed. And, of course, messing up his sheets.

"Yes, it's probably best that I get Mr. Tawarayama soon. I left him in his room about twenty minutes ago and people might get suspicious," Wombat said, just as Yumoto tried reaching out and pulling him on the bed. Wombat quickly scurried away and stood as far away from the crazed blonde as possible.

"Well, twenty minutes isn't that long, especially after that flight," Ryuu said, going to sit down on his own bed.

"But the smell might be suspicious," Wombat explained, already moving towards the door.

"Wait, but if you're going, I'm coming with you!" Yumoto called out and jumped back off the bed, his eyes glistened as he chased after the furry alien – who was already running out the door. En and Atsushi pivoted around to face the slamming door as shouts of "Wom-san" were heard throughout the hallway.

"We should probably go as well," Atsushi said, slinging his bag over his shoulder. He and En had only seen their room for a brief moment to drop off their suitcases, when Yumoto rushed in and hurried them over to Ryuu and Io's room, which according to him, had the best view he had every seen. Of course, he wasn't really incorrect. Unlike En and Atsushi's room – which had a lovely view of the parking lot with tiny restaurant that served food from Hong Kong just across the street, stuck in between a Decathlon store and Starbucks – Ryuu and Io's room had a full view of the Eiffel Tower, along with a multitude of French cafes and shops.

"We should. I barely slept at all on the airplane," said En. He yawned and grabbed for his own carry-along, after which he yawned once more. Io found it hard to believe that the boy who slept for nearly the entire flight _and _the time spent waiting at the airport could still wish to do nothing but sleep, even as it was still before noon in central Paris.

The two of them walked out the door and shut it quietly behind them. Their conversation could be heard as they walked slowly towards their room. Io cracked open the door a little bit and peaked through at the two Battle Lovers as they opened their own door, their arms brushing slightly as En reached over to unlock their door. Feeling as though he was imposing on something that he shouldn't, Io shut the door and locked it shut.

"So, what's the schedule?" Ryuu put his hands behind his head and flopped down on the pile of pillows that were carefully arranged on the bed which he now claimed as his own – which was sadly the one closer to the window. Then again, Io's was right next to the washroom, so that had his own advantages.

Io pulled out his precious laptop and set it on his own bed. He clicked a couple of files until he finally found the one containing their entire trip's schedule.

"Well, first of all, we should all go for lunch, so long as Yumoto is accompanied by us, that is. We have a sight-seeing trip with the other students in the afternoon, and then we can finish the day off with lunch," I paused and scrolled down to the next page. "And then tomorrow, we have our first French class and English class."

"We have classes?" Ryuu shot up.

"Of course we have classes! Missing so many days of school would be terrible for both the school's average grade rating and ours," Io said calmly and clicked a couple more files open.

"But I can already speak English! And why do I have to learn French anyway? I heard that everyone here speaks English anyway," Ryuu whined and laid back down on his bed.

"Well, the school can't give so many students a free vacation for so many weeks in Paris. Our grades would really suffer," Io pointed out and walked from the desk over to his bed. He sat down on his own pile of assorted pillows and placed his laptop on his knees.

"Fine, fine, but is it far? I don't really want to walk half-way through Paris for a French class," exclaimed Ryuu.

"We'll take the subway," Io said, not looking away from his laptop. Ryuu rolled over on his bed to face Io and smiled.

"So, what's this I hear about lunch?" he asked and gave Io another smile. It almost seemed to him like Ryuu was trying to bribe him for food with his smiles. Not that Io cared for them. Or that he could be bribed by them. No, the very idea was just crazy. Though, all of a sudden, Io felt very hungry.

"We can go look around for somewhere to eat, if you want," Io said, flipping his laptop screen down. When he turned to look at Ryuu, he already had his pink phone out, tapping the screen madly.

Ryuu noticed Io's sudden attention, so he turned his phone screen towards his green-haired best friend and pointed at some particularly colorful reviews for various cafes and restaurants. Before Io could scroll down anymore, Ryuu snatched his pink phone back and began tapping furiously on it once more.

Io got up from his bed and climbed over onto Ryuu's to look over his shoulder and on his phone screen. Ryuu looked back at the boy who had settled onto his pillow pile. All of a sudden, their faces seemed particularly close. Io sucked in his breath as Ryuu's eyes scanned over his own. They suddenly moved lower and, seemingly, ended their gaze upon his lips. He heard the other boy suck in his breath as well, making the air go oddly still.

"Tell me something," Ryuu whispered lightly. Io felt his heart speed up a little bit as the heat of Ryuu's breath hit his bottom lip. He felt an odd little shiver crawling up his spine. That didn't mean anything, of course. He was just very cold, after all. Who knew that Paris was such a cold place?

"Yes?" Io asked, feeling his own voice quiver.

"How do you feel about Italian?" Ryuu asked very quietly in a voice that brought another small shiver down Io's spine. Again, it was a very cold Paris day.

"That sounds good," Io breathed back, "Even though we're in France."

Ryuu laughed a little giggle – which, for some reason, Io found adorable, like a girl's – and smiled again. He shifted on the pillows slightly, breaking the sudden closeness between him and Io, instead replacing it with a regrettable amount of distance. He did not know why, but for some reason, Io missed Ryuu's unexpected warmth. A cold, cold day, he reminded himself. He should probably buy a sweater or something while they're out.

* * *

Ryuu knocked on En and Atsushi's door for the third time. Still, there was no answer. Of course, the sensible thing to do would be to simply walk in and see what was keeping them. Unfortunately, they were fully aware of Io's warning of criminals, who were apparently always on the prowl for a money-stealing opportunities (though they had not realized that Io meant a different type of criminal), and remembered to keep their door locked.

"Seriously? Guys, open the door," Ryuu called out and knocked again, harder this time. He noticed Io looking around warily at the other doors occupying the hallway. Ryuu didn't worry about making much noise; who would be in their rooms, in Paris, at this time of day anyway? Other than some Japanese students, that is.

Finally, after the fifth knock, Ryuu heard the door being unlocked from the inside and En's dishevelled face poked out from the open crack. Anyone could tell that he had been asleep and was just awoken with much annoyance.

"Yes?" he asked, and scratched the back of his neck. Even with his freshly awoken expression, Ryuu thought that he still looked very presentable to go about town with and not get strange french stares. He meant, in case they happened to meet a girl on the way and she was frightened off by a tired, old-looking teenager. Not that En wasn't handsome. But that had nothing to do with it. Ryuu knew that they were all pretty handsome, even by Parisian standards.

"We're going out for lunch," Ryuu said, noticing for the first time that En was not wearing a shirt. Io, who had been standing next to him, noticed this also and seemed to try and look at anything other than that. Strange, Ryuu thought. They always bathed in the bathhouse together, completely naked, and he never seemed to mind there.

"Oh, that's good. I already ate the complementary cookies, I was so hungry," En said and opened the door a little bit further, allowing the two Battle Lovers to enter. Just before they did, though, they heard a set of feet running towards them at an unworldly speed.

"There were cookies?" Yumoto cried out as he ran at the three stunned students in the hallway. He was not the only one crying, though he was the only one to do so in joy. Wombat, who was trying very hard to escape Yumoto's impeccable grasp, was also varying between expressions of pure pain and discomfort.

"How did you know we were -" Io was cut off before he could finish his sentence.

"I heard Ryuu yelling at the door! I'm not deaf," Yumoto explained happily, "Now we can all go! You weren't going to leave me here, were you? Because, no worries, I could track you all down in a few minutes."

"You should all stay together," Wombat managed to say before Yumoto tightened his grip even further, as if it was a form of punishment for trying to escape.

"Where's Mr. Tawarayama? Shouldn't he come along too?" Ryuu asked, looking back in the direction that Yumoto's room was. "And won't your roommate wonder where you are?" he asked, forgetting for a second who exactly Yumoto was boarding with.

"Kinosaki won't mind! He wanted to be with Tazawa anyway, since he was planning on writing an article about Paris anyway," Yumoto explained.

"So, we can all go then?" En asked, stretching on the spot.

"Yes – no, wait, where is Atsushi?" Io asked suddenly, remembering the fifth member of their group was not yet present.

"He's in the shower," En said casually, looking back into his room. "No, wait, he isn't," he said, just as Atsushi stepped out of the bathroom, also wearing nothing but trousers.

"What's all this?" he asked when he noticed the entire group gathered at the door.

"Lunch," En said, as if that explained everything. To Atsushi, apparently it did.

"Great! I mean, I'm not really that hungry, but it wouldn't hurt to eat a little," Atsushi said and shrugged.

"You're way too thin anyway," En said with a stern edge to his voice, lightened with an undertone of concern. Atsushi blushed a little bit and turned away.

"I'm not," he muttered so that Ryuu could barely hear him. Ryuu noticed that Atsushi did seem rather on the thin side, though not much to be concerned about just yet. Then again, he and En were best friends, so it was only natural that the two of them worry about each other. Just like he would if it were Io who was looking too thin. It's simply what friends do.

* * *

**A/N: I realized once it was already too late that this was much longer than I originally meant it to be. I just hope that it wasn't too boring. I'm simply one of those authors who likes it when a romantic relationship grows over time and through experience. ^-^'**

**Thank you everyone for following and reviewing this odd little fan fiction! And thank you very much, all of you who helped me correct my mistakes in the previous chapter! I really appreciate it! :)**

**I also wanted to say that I am hoping that this will become M rated in the future (since, everyone, let's face it, you all secretly read M rated fan fictions the most XD), therefore you have been warned... mostly because my M rated yaoi writing is not exactly the best that you can get! **

**This is actually going to be labeled as 'Chapter Two' because it sometimes confuses me when I am reading a fan fiction and the chapter is labeled a different number than it should be because of a prologue. **

**Also, note, the scene with Ryuu's hair being pulled was inspired by, yes, Dramatical Murder and Hetalia. XD **

**If anyone notices any mistakes AT ALL in this chapter, please let me know so I can fix them as soon as possible! And I would really love suggestions as well for following chapters! (I am not a very imaginative person . . .)**

**(That was a long author's note!)**


	3. Si Tu Savais

"Remind me again why we have to take the stairs," Ryuu said as he tried to squeeze his way back towards the other students and teachers. He bumped into a couple more tourists before he finally found a way to the rest of the group.

"Because the lines for the lift are too long. You don't want to wait in line for hours," Atsushi said knowingly, gesturing towards a huge crowd of people, wrapping around in loops and not looking all too pleased about it. Neither one of them could really distinguish the line for the lift and the rest of the crowd. Really, the huge mess of tourists and the odd Frenchmen moulded together to form a canvas of color and noise surrounding the class, instead of any particular groups.

"Because the school can't pay the extra fee for the entire class," Io corrected, placing his hands in his jacket pockets.

"But going up the stairs will be fun!" Yumoto cheered, taking a big lick of his chocolate ice cream, of which there was more on his face than the cone. Somehow, he had convinced En to buy him an ice cream cone, though that made Ryuu jealous, wanting one as well. After he watched the ice cream transport from its cone and onto the blond kid's face, he seemed to loose his appetite.

Yumoto jumped around happily, accidentally bumping into another ten other people in the process. As Io tried to calm the little blond down while simultaneously trying to apologize to all of surrounding people, Ryuu began poking around Atsushi and En's conversation,

"What are you guys talking about?" seemed to be his new favorite phrase. The fourth time that he asked them the same question, En and Atsushi felt like maybe they should simply let him lead the conversation. Really, every time that they began answering or explaining their conversations, Ryuu would get distracted by something on his phone and focus on that instead.

"How much longer do we have to wait here?" he finally asked.

En looked down to Ryuu's eye level briefly and pointed towards a huge gathering of people who had lined up ahead. "Until everyone here goes up," he said and placed his hands back in his pockets.

"Why don't they hurry up?" Ryuu asked with a wary voice. He was already getting a little hot under the sun and began fanning himself with a touring pamphlet.

"Because, if everyone went up at once, then they would overcrowd and fall off," Atsushi said and rolled his eyes with a smile.

"Really?" Ryuu asked and peaked over his sunglasses.

"No, not really," Atsushi said and laughed a little. Ryuu simply looked at him with an odd expression. He didn't exactly expect that the Eiffel Tower would be so crowded. It never looked this crowded in pictures and movies. His ideal way of spending his first afternoon in Paris did not exactly involve waiting in line just to walk up a tower. Then again, he also knew that he would have to let these little annoyances go and just enjoy it while he could. So what if he had to walk up for so long? At least he would have something to show for it, even if climbing up the Eiffel Tower was not exactly the same thing as climbing up Mount Kilimanjaro or trekking through lifeless wilderness for days.

Ryuu was even more surprised to learn that the class had already moved a few spots ahead, getting closer to the beginning of the line. He was even more surprised when he realized something odd while examining the selected students before him.

"Did any of you notice that three of the students are missing?" he asked suddenly, scanning the littered crowd for those three hateful, yet familiar, faces.

"Yes, I did actually," Atsushi said and En nodded in understanding beside him, "But I didn't really expect them to take this route. They even got their own lofts in the same hotel as us, though they paid for them. I'm not even sure if they paid for their own tickets or flew first class through a different line." His eyes followed the gathering wave of tourists until they settled on the familiar hair of a certain Student Council president.

"And there they are now," he said, just as they were entering a lift on the other side of the entire cement area. It seemed that the three council members were the only ones in that entire lift. Knowing them, they had probably rented it out for the entire day. Ryuu couldn't help but feel sorry for all of the annoyed tourists who would now be cut one lift short. For once, he was happy to be walking up the tower instead of wasting the next three hours of his life in a line held up by three selfish Japanese council members.

From here, the line seemed to move faster. Maybe it was simply because Ryuu kept staring at the unchanged line for the lift and seemed to appreciate the fact that his line was actually moving, or maybe it was because he was now very bent on getting to the top, one way or another, just to show those council members that you don't have to waste your money and piss everyone within a five-mile radius off, merely to see such a lovely view in privacy.

Finally, after what seemed like forever to him – with the exception of those times that something blinking on his screen, which was when time moved the fastest – the beginning of the line was only a couple of people away. For a second, Ryuu was relieved that he would no longer have to stand around, crushed between an American and a Canadian who couldn't stop arguing over who had the better flag. Then, of course, he realized that he would instead be surrounded by the other students as they made their way up the Eiffel Tower, which made him reconsider the line again. It was until the American accidentally spat his gum out and it landed on Ryuu's shoulder that he finally perked up for good on the idea that he would be walking all of those stairs. He knew that it wouldn't be so bad after all. And, of course, he was excited about all the French girls he could meet on top.

The foreigner travelling to Paris and meeting a young French woman on the Eiffel Tower was a famous romantic concept that made Ryuu feel as though he had a much greater chance at this unlikely fate than he could let statistics claim. Really, he wouldn't understand what kind of young lady living in Paris would not be on the Eiffel Tower. That was possibly the most French thing that there was, and French people liked French things.

"We're here!" Yumoto called out, while the supervisor gave the official people in the front the information and tickets for the entire class. The woman and man behind the front desk said something in French that Ryuu didn't understand, followed by something in accented English that he could barely catch.

_See_, he thought, _Io was worried about nothing_.

"Finally," said Io, who had apparently abandoned his impossible mission in keeping Yumoto under control. Ryuu just hoped that the kid wouldn't accidentally fall of the Tower or something. _Well, they probably made sure that couldn't happen anyway, right_? He could only hope.

"Do any of you know what's actually on the top?" Atsushi asked, flipping through his brochure as the Eiffel Tower workers let the class past the red rope and onto the stairs. Ryuu noticed them closing it directly after the class had all gone past it and begun their way up the metal stairs.

"I think I do," En said, looking around as he continued up the stairs. He didn't look particularly excited, but he did at least seem amused and interested.

"Oh, I don't know, but don't spoil it for me! I'm really excited!" Yumoto exclaimed and ran up a couple of stairs ahead.

"I think it's a restaurant," Ryuu said. He actually didn't know, but it seemed like it would be a restaurant. This was France, after all.

"No, it's not a restaurant," Io smiled and placed his hand on the railing.

"You know what it is, don't you?" Atsushi asked, though he already knew the obvious answer.

"What is it?" Ryuu asked no one in particular, as he was now also quite curious. He wasn't quite sure that anyone heard him, but he didn't actually care. There being a restaurant really seemed accurate and he couldn't think of there being anything else. Then again, he wondered exactly how a restaurant could fit there anyway. Slowly letting his own wonders consume him, he let his gaze fall down to his feet instead of the slowly increasing view. While Yumoto gasped and screamed from a couple stairs away and all his other friends pointed out things that they could see with each growing step, Ryuu focused on the floor. He noticed for the first time that each step was numbered. So far, he was only on the 67th step. The number suddenly made all of these stairs seem like so much and so little at the same time, though he didn't quite understand how that could make sense. He decided to take his eyes off of the steps – which were filling his head with all sorts of weird thoughts – and partake in the view of Paris instead.

* * *

"This is pretty amazing, isn't it?" Io said, after they reached the 132nd step.

"Yeah, it kind of is," Ryuu answered. The way he said it made him seem unimpressed, but Io knew that Ryuu simply couldn't find the words to describe it. The view had become more obvious now, even though they were still only a third way up to the first floor, and the students were all enjoying it to their fullest.

"Did you know that there's a glass floor on the first level where you can look down and see everything below?" En told Atsushi.

"Really? That sounds pretty great. I mean, it also sounds kind of frightening – actually, pretty frightening – but it still sounds great," Atsushi replied and took another step forward. His fingers were playing with the brochure's edge as he spoke, though Io was sure that he didn't notice.

"How do you know what's on the top?" Ryuu asked Io suddenly.

"I just do," Io stated. He really didn't remember how he learned it from the beginning, but he assumed he had just looked it up one day, long ago.

"What is it?" Ryuu asked, this time loud enough for others to hear.

Io looked at him with amusement. "You'll just have to find out."

Ryuu rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses and looked away. "I could look it up, you know," he said and waved his pink phone at him. Of course, Io knew that he wouldn't do it. Ryuu was too just excited to see it in person for him to look it up. "How many steps are there on this tower anyway?"

"Over six-hundred," Io answered and Ryuu nearly tipped over.

"We have to walk up that many steps?" he asked, seeming mortified.

"Well, we get to take a lift to the top floor," Io explained, "The stairs are not all opened to the public."

"I knew that," Ryuu said and brushed is hand against the metal railing. "It was built so long ago, so I guessed it wouldn't be all that safe."

The wind began to pick up a little bit, blowing Io's hair around a little bit. Ryuu's pink locks began flowing in the wind as well, throwing his regular hairstyle askew. He lowered the sunglasses off of his face and closed them together. His hands began to pull his hair back off of his face, but it did not help him at all. His pink bangs fell from his tied hair and blew the loose hair against his face. At the sight of Ryuu's frustrated expression, Io got a sudden sinking feeling in his stomach; something that he really did not wish to get while on the Eiffel Tower, for various reasons. For some reason, Ryuu looked somewhat cute trying to get his hair off of his face, but Io didn't understand how or why. He turned away as quickly as possible, trying to hide his growing blush in the process. No, no blush at all. No, it was actually not a blush in the least. It was simply because the temperature was rising a little. It was the summer, after all. It only makes sense that his face – and other, less obvious places – would get somewhat heated.

"Are you feeling okay?" Ryuu clanked over to a now embarrassed Io, who was trying hard to be ignored.

"Yes, I'm fine," Io said and tried not to look up at Ryuu. Unfortunately, his plan failed. Ryuu placed his hand on Io's shoulder and tried to turn him around so that they would face each other. Io, feeling as though he was being somewhat rude to his poor friend, peaked a little over his shoulder, just to check exactly what expression he had on his face at that moment. When he saw Ryuu, he let out a very faint sigh.

Ryuu had pulled his hair back into a ponytail, making his entire face look more prominent and handsome. His skin, though soft and youthful, was marked with a couple of sweat drops, which made him look just a little bit more mature. His eyes seemed somewhat sad and worried, making Io himself feel equally worried – for himself, that is. Why would he – a boy, no less – consider things like that? That wasn't normal at all. It really must have been all that heat. After all, what else could it possibly be?

"Are you sure?" Ryuu asked, leaning in a little bit closer to Io.

"I – I'm fine, like I said," stuttered Io and tried to escape Ryuu's warm breath against his neck. He wondered for a moment whether Ryuu ever did this on purpose, just to mess with his head.

"If you say so," Ryuu said and playfully patted Io on the shoulder. He stumbled up a couple more steps ahead of Io, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

Why did Ryuu's laugh make him want to smile? Why is it that he caught onto every word that left Ryuu's lips? Why is it that, after the words would leave his lips, Io would continue to stare at them? What was going on? He hoped that this was just going to be a phase that would soon be over, like a cold. Of course, that would only happen if there was something wrong. But, there was nothing wrong to begin with. Just two close best friends who happened to smile and blush a little more than average boys did, but only because they were close enough for it to mean nothing.

After two-hundred more steps and many more minutes of Yumoto's enthusiastic cheering later, the entire class was very excited to see the seemingly everlasting stairs to finally come to an end.

"This is amazing!" Ryuu called out as he ran ahead after Yumoto. Io thought that it was amazing as well, but he did not show it. Atsushi was amazed as well. Every few steps, he would frantically turn for side to side, whispering about how beautiful the view was and how difficult the structure must have been to build. Now, he seemed even more excited than on the way up.

"I remember there was an episode of Kuroshitsuji," Atsushi began at one point, while En rolled his eyes playfully and smiled down on his friend. Atsushi didn't mind that he was ranting or that he was being somewhat repetitive, and En didn't seem to mind this either. Deep down, Io wished that Ryuu would be like that as well. But, to him, Ryuu already seemed great the way that he was. He didn't need to be patient or to listen the same way that En did to Atsushi. He simply needed to be there for Io when he needed him – though usually, the roles were reversed in that scenario. Because they were friends, Io thought to himself. That was the single and most important reason.

"Why didn't you tell me it was this big?" Ryuu asked once Io reached him. He was leaning as far towards the edge as he could, which wasn't very far, as there was a tall fence blocking the first floor off from the rest of Paris, topped with wire.

"How big did you think it was going to be?" Io questioned him, looking at the miraculous view of Paris that seemed to spread out before them. In that instant, he was reminded of what a beautiful city this really was. It was no wonder why it was often called 'The City of Love'. Anyone could spend a minute looking at that view and fall in love with it in mere seconds.

"I don't know. I thought there would be very little space and everyone would be rushing to get around bumping into each other, and trying to push their way to actually see something.

"I didn't expect so much space," Ryuu sighed, gazing lovingly at the city. "Where did Atsushi and En disappear to? I thought we were all supposed to stick together with the class," Ryuu suddenly thought aloud, turning to face Io.

"If you hadn't run off like you did, you would have known that we are all supposed to meet at _The 58 Tour Eiffel_ in an hour," Io explained and, just to add effect to his voice, tugged his sleeve back to expose his watch, which showed that they still had another forty five minutes.

"What's _The 58 Tour Eiffel_?" Ryuu questioned.

"It's a restaurant," Io explained and pulled his brochure out. He flipped it open and showed Ryuu a tiny picture featured on the inside.

"You told me there was no restaurant on the Eiffel Tower," Ryuu said with suspicion. He gently took the brochure from his friend's hands and looked it over. His eyes paused over the picture of _The 58 Tour Eiffel_ restaurant, as he read over the little bit of information given on the colorful piece of paper.

"There is no large restaurant on the _third_ level," Io corrected him and slipped the paper back from Ryuu. "But there is definitely one on this level. It's very well known, actually, especially in the economic world. After all, such a location is great for business," said the proud boy. He was always more comfortable when talking about the things that he loved, and money fell into that category.

"Is it any good?" Ryuu asked, but Io just smirked. "You're not going to tell me again, are you?" Ryuu inquired and Io nodded in response.

"Of course not."

"Thought so," Ryuu smiled and began walking in another direction, Io in tow. "Well," he said, "I can assume there are some sort of gift stores here, right? This place is too tourist-y for it to not have any gift stores."

"_Touristy_?" Io mouthed back, which made Ryuu let out a little giggle.

"You know what I mean," he said and let out another giggle.

Io suddenly felt like the temperature was rising once more. Oh, that damn sun, with its. . . heat. Why did it taunt him so. It seemed that every time he looked towards Ryuu – especially when he smiled or laughed – the sun would always shine directly onto Io and bathe him in the kind of warmth that was very much unwanted.

"You have that look on your face again," said Ryuu, who had stopped walking and turned to face Io. Just as Io was about to ask what he meant, Ryuu added, "That expression which looks like you're using the toilet while thinking about your favorite cheese sandwich."

"Favorite cheese sandwich?" Io asked again, glaring oddly at his friend.

"Stop questioning my honest logic," Ryuu said and grabbed Io's arm. Io rolled his eyes as he felt an intense amount of warmth flood through his arm and spread to the rest of his body. He silently cursed the sun once more.

He pondered, for a brief second, the logic of this apparently evil sun. His first doubt came from the fact that, even though it was the summer, people were still wearing sweaters in Paris today, since it was not the warmest day of the season. It wasn't cold either – it was pretty decent weather – but definitely not warm enough for him to wish that he was in Antarctica and taking a nosedive directly into the ice-filled waters. Then, how is it that he now felt exactly this way? And what kind of star did the sun think it was by using Ryuu as its trigger. That, of course, was where his second doubt came from.

He concluded with the fact that, maybe, he should not have been so stubborn and brought some sort of hat with him, as talking to the sun had made him realize that he might be getting somewhat delusional from too much heat exposure.

"You're starting to look a little pale. It's nothing, I guess. Alright, let's go find those gift shops," Ryuu said, as he began to haul Io around the first floor.

It did not take very long for Ryuu to find the gift shops. At first, Io could tell that Ryuu had not expected a 'mini-mall' on the Eiffel Tower, but that's exactly where he found himself in under five minutes. Well, maybe not a mall. More like a convenient gathering of gift shops under one roof.

"This is great!" Ryuu cheered. His hand still rested around Ryuu's arm, and it didn't look like he was going to move it anytime soon.

Io felt the rush of cool air hit him like a fan while Ryuu dragged him through the doors, but for some reason, he still felt warm. Though, this time, the warmth seemed more comforting than frightening.

"Let's go there first," Ryuu pointed at a gift shop only a couple of steps away. When he pulled his hand away to point, Io suddenly felt cold and a little bit empty. He instantly missed the warmth that Ryuu's hand left on his arm.

_Ryuu's warmth_, Io pondered, _Was that what it was? How could a person feel so warm, though?_

Unfortunately, he did not have the answer to that question. Instead, he pushed it back into his mind, and focused more on the task ahead of him.

* * *

"Are you just going to sit there?" Atsushi waved the camera in his hand and gestured it towards En.

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" En crossed his legs as though to demonstrate how Atsuhi should simply join him on the floor and calm down.

"Maybe, you could try being a little more dramatic?" Atsushi suggested, "Right now, you just kind of look like a floating monk."

"Is that a bad thing?" En said and moved his hands to rest on his knees.

Atsushi smiled and snapped a picture anyway, finding that this was a moment he would not really want to be forgotten, even if it was just the two of them arguing over how to pose on the glass floor. He knew that he would one day find this picture again and laugh.

"See," En smiled, just as Atsushi leaned over to show him the picture. "It turned out fine," he said.

All of a sudden, he grabbed Atsushi by the waist and pulled him down onto the floor, right next to him. Being caught by surprise didn't help the fact that Atsushi did not particularly want to sit on glass floor, but being caught by surprise was still better than being caught by En. He blushed – and nearly shrieked – as En's arms circled around his thin waist, resting just a little but above his hip bone. He felt as though he was about to pass out from embarrassment. Still, Atsushi couldn't help but notice how much he loved the feeling of En's hands around his waist, even if it did make him turn bright red. He hoped that En wouldn't notice, though. That would only lead to more embarrassment.

"You really are too thin," En whispered in a low voice that made Atsushi's stomach flutter as though he had trapped an entire field of butterflies inside.

"So you keep saying," Atsushi replied, noticing how close he and En had gotten. He also noticed that a couple of people were beginning to take note of the two of them. Quickly, he tried to wiggle out of En's grasp, but there was no use.

"Can you let go please?" he asked and tried escaping once more.

"What? Why?"

Atsushi did not answer, but he felt as though he really didn't need to. Even En could probably tell that he was feeling a little bit uncomfortable, especially regarding the odd stares they were both getting.

"Can we take a picture first, at least?" En said, though he did not wait for Atsushi's answer. With the camera in his hand and a very brief smile on his face, he snapped as many pictures of the two of them as he could, before Atsushi struggled out of his grasp and took the camera back.

"We don't need _that_ many," he said playfully.

"No, we don't," En agreed. Stretching, he placed his hand behind his head with a little yawn. "But I want to remember everything from this trip."

"I do too," Atsushi began, though his cheeks still showed hints at his previous blush – which now seemed to be making a reappearance. Unknown to himself, he sat back down onto the floor, right next to En. He continued, "Do you want to take anymore pictures together?" En cocked his head to the side. "To remember this moment, that is," Atsushi finished, feeling foolishly self-conscious in front of his best friend.

En gently placed his hand on Atsushi's back and nodded. For some reason, normally, such a gesture would not faze Atsushi at all – this was only En, after all – but, this time was different. The feeling and pressure of En's hand on his back seemed like so much more than it actually was. It seemed to him like En was trying to convey his thoughts and emotions through a simple hand gesture, as if he wished his touch to somehow send these very thoughts to Atsushi's mind.

In this moment, he didn't care what other people thought. He didn't care that there were some people who stared at the two boys on the floor who were leaning onto each other and taking pictures. He didn't care about what they may look like to everyone else, or how he might have looked to En. All that he really cared about was being happy and being with his best friend. Really, that was all he needed. And, if sitting on the floor and being awkwardly hugged by En made him happy, then he thought, let it be.

He leaned over and, in turn, placed an equally gentle hand upon En's back. Underneath it, he felt En's body go still for the slightest moment, before settling and calming down. Atsushi realized that maybe, such a thing would not make En as happy as it did him, and began to drag his hand away. Just as he was about to take it off of En's back, En pulled back his own arm and stopped Atsushi's hand from moving.

"No," he said, "keep it there." His hand paused for a moment on Atsushi's arm, stroking it with his fingers before pulling his arm away. A shiver ran down Atushi's back, as if it was radiating from En's touch.

Atsushi positioned the camera in front of them and set a ready smile on his face. En's face did not really change, though he did seem a little bit calmer, and somehow more comfortable. He snapped a quick picture and was already pulling the camera away, when En took the camera in his own hands and clicked to look at the picture.

"Wait," he said and showed the picture to Atsushi, "We were too far apart." He pointed to the picture, which only showed half of their faces on it.

Atsushi took the camera back and turned towards the brunette. "Okay," he said and grinned. This time, Atsushi leaned over towards En, who only peaked at him over his shoulder.

"Is this close enough?" Atsushi asked, still trying to keep a little bit of distance between the two of them.

"No," En answered quickly. Atsushi blushed a little bit, as En's voice had dropped to a light whisper.

"Okay," Atsushi answered again and began to lean over a little bit closer to En. When he looked over at the other boy, he noticed him still shaking his head slightly. He turned back to the camera and began to get closer and closer towards En. The closer he got to him, the more he noticed the taller boy's musky scent and long waved locks. He sucked in his breath a little bit, as his arm made contact with En's. All of a sudden, he was overwhelmed with the need to get closer to En, to wrap his own arms around him and breath in his scent.

"Are you ready?" En asked his friend, bringing him out of his odd thoughts.

"What?" he asked suddenly. For some reason, he could only find a way to focus on the brunette's soft whisper.

"The picture?" En reminded him, which seemed to finally grab his attention.

"Yes, of course," he finally answered and turned his attention back on the camera. He quickly took a couple of pictures and, as soon as he was able to, scooted away from the other boy. Atsuhsi did not know what compelled him to do so; his body was telling him to do the very opposite, after all.

He stood up off of the floor and extended his arm to pull En up as well. When En asked him what the rush was, Atsushi reminded him of the huge amount of other people who also want to take pictures on the glass floor.

"Wait," En said and flopped back onto the ground.

"What is it?" Atsushi asked him, though this time, he was beginning to feel a little bit annoyed.

"You said I should take a more dramatic picture," En stated. He laid back on the glass and stretched himself across the ground. He smiled and said, "Here you go."

Atsushi, who now stood above him, pointed the camera at him and began to zoom out a little, to capture only the best picture he could. He took a couple of pictures, each one of them capturing a slightly different scene of En's positions. Once En began getting back up, Atsushi knew that they were done. He went back to look at the picture he had taken, only to realize that they weren't just ordinary pictures.

Each one of them seemed to provoke something inside of him, which made him feel somewhat uncomfortable and, dare he say, dirty. In each picture, En positioned himself to look either dangerous or in blissful pain. Each one that depicted him as dangerous sent a jolt up En's arms, making him want nothing more than to see more danger that the brunette could make, and in each picture that he looked like he _was_ in danger, Atsushi felt like he wanted to see more of what exactly could make En look so pained but so sexy at the same time. He mentally slapped himself for thinking that. He felt so dirty to even consider what kinds of things could provoke such expressions from the taller boy.

"So?" En asked while he stood up. Atsushi's hand trembled as he reached down to help En off of the glass. Two stronger hands took Atsushi's own shaking hand between theirs, and Atsushi leaned back to pull their owner up. En stumbled over and finally stood, accidentally bumping into him on his way up.

"The pictures look g – good," Atsushi stuttered. He handed En the camera, blushing madly the entire time. In some odd way, he did not want En to see his own pictures. For some reason, they seemed personal to Atsushi somehow, as if showing it to anyone else would be criminal and embarrassing. Even so, as En flickered through the photos, he smirked a little with each one.

"They do," was all he said. He paused on one particular picture before turning the camera over and showing Atsushi. The shorter boy quickly grabbed at the camera and stared at the photo, blushing even more than before.

"I guess you won't be showing these to your family," Atsushi whispered, though there was really nothing wrong with the pictures other than Atsushi's imagination.

"What?" En asked, which made Atsushi immediately regret his words.

"I meant, because, well, they'll be so busy and there are so many pictures and, yes, that's exactly what I meant," Atsushi quickly rambled and looked away from the confused teenager before him.

He was already walking away by the time En said, "No, I meant I didn't hear what you said," and ran after him.

* * *

"Don't you think this is cute?" Ryuu held up a plastic figurine of the Eiffel Tower with a red beret on it. It was possibly one of the cheesiest things Io had seen in a gift store all day, and that included the

mug with a cheese on it saying, "Est-que vous parlez en français?" and sporting a twirly mustache, which Ryuu had been so proud to find many minutes ago.

"Sure, but definitely not if it costs eight euros," Io stated and took the plastic novelty from Ryuu's hands. He placed it back on the shelf and said, "These kinds of businesses make millions off of unsuspecting tourists – those who are willing to pay ridiculous prices for useless things."

"Eight euros isn't _that_ ridiculous," said Ryuu, as he rolled his eyes.

"It's equivalent to about one-thousand and twenty yen," Io explained with easy and watch Ryuu's expression turn sour.

"Ridiculous," he heard Ryuu whisper dramatically. He felt himself smile at that.

Ryuu wandered about the shop some more, picking up a couple of other trinkets along the way. He placed each one back once he turned it over and looked at the price. At first, Io felt proud to have influenced him to be able to judge prices in such a way and to not give away his money so easily, but the sad look on Ryuu's face each time he turned over a novelty that he liked made Io change his mind.

"You know," he began, as he made his way to Ryuu, "not everything is junk." This seemed to grab Ryuu's attention, so Io continued. "There is something you could get as a souvenir from the Eiffel Tower," he said. "I'm sure that many girls would love a guy who has been to Paris, back in Japan."

He did not want to admit it, but it made him feel strangely upset to see Ryuu perk up at his last statement. Luckily, Ryuu seemed to not notice this at all, as he quickly reached over to a red beret that sat on another shelf. Io rolled his eyes and nearly laughed. A red beret – how typical for them to sell those to tourists?

"How about this?" Ryuu asked, as he placed the beret on his head. Io stifled a sigh. Even he could not deny to himself how cute Ryuu looked with the red beret on his head.

"No!" He whispered under his breath, and physically slapped himself across his cheek. He would never think that. No, no, he could definitely deny something like that – _especially_ since it wasn't true. Actually, Ryuu looked stupid in that hat. Very stupid indeed. And feminine. In fact, that is the very reason that _anyone _may or may not think that the beret made Ryuu attractive. It was all simply because he appeared so... girly.

"What?" Ryuu turned towards him. "Did you just slap yourself?"

"Huh?" Io asked and considered how to play this as casually as he could.

"Did you – oh, never mind," he said. "Now," be turned an exited smile at Ryuu, "how do I look?" He twirled around in place twice, giving Io only his best smiles each time.

"F – fine," he stammered. He tried really hard to not look at Ryuu as he spun around one more time. He didn't fancy seeing the way Ryuu's loose clothing flowed off of his skin as he twirled around, giving Io a few quick glances at Ryuu's bare skin. Not at all.

"I really like it. It makes me feel more ... artistic. And French," he explained with joy. "It's only twelve euros," he added.

"If you really like it, then you should get it," Io said, though this was against his nature. To spend money on such a thing was not something he would think to do, but Ryuu was different. If this made him happy – and didn't cost him too much – he should buy it.

Ryuu grinned at him and nodded. "That isn't something you say often, so I will take your word for it," he said happily. With that, he took the beret off of his head and went to pay for it at the register.

Ryuu and Io walked out of the shop, with Ryuu wearing a successful expression on his face, happy to finally get a souvenir from the Eiffel Tower, after so many opportunities to do so. He seemed proud of himself in some way, and Io was glad for that.

"So, now that you've finally bought something, what do you want to do?" Io asked him once they had exited the stop.

"I don't know. En and Atsushi kept talking about that glass floor, which sounded pretty fun," Ryuu suggested.

Io quickly checked his watch. "We have twenty more minutes," he said. "We better hurry."

* * *

"This is fun! Isn't this fun?" Yumoto cheered, "When can we meet up with the others?"

"Mr. Tawarayama is required to be with some of the other supervisors at the moment and it would be suspicious to just leave," Wombat whispered to Yumoto. "But, he doesn't have to be here the entire time."

"Wow! Isn't this view great?" Yumoto ran up to see the city of Paris unfold beneath him.

"It is, Wombat said, "It is the City of Love, after all!"

"Why is this the City of Love?" Yumoto asked and once again began to wander past the crowd, turning to look back at Wombat – who was, per usual, being carried by Mr. Tawarayama's body.

Wombat drove Mr. Tawarayama's body after him, careful not to draw any unwanted attention in his direction. "Because it's the heart of the world."

This made Yumoto pause and move backward, until he stood next to Mr. Tawarayama once more. "What do you mean?" he asked, his eyes sparkled with thought, considering every idea that was forming in his mind.

"That's not what I meant," Wombat said, sensing Yumoto's sudden excitement. He continued, "It's where most of the love of the world is created and shared, not necessarily thriving. It's one of the most common cities of young love!" Wombat looked absolutely elated just by thinking of all this love.

Yumoto instantly felt the ultimate need to entrap him in his arms and cuddle the living hell out of him. He just couldn't stand that something so cute is not being cuddled! He was already reaching out to grab the fluffy creature from his place underneath Mr. Tawarayama, and before he could stop himself, pulled Wombat into his own arms.

All of a sudden, Mr. Tawarayama dropped to the ground in a thump, face-first. The screams came before the help did. After one of the supervisors had finally screamed herself out, she dropped to her knees at Mr. Tawarayama's limp body and quickly began pulling at his arm.

"He's not responding!" she cried out at the surrounding crowd of people, which was growing by the second.

Wombat quickly struggled out of Yumoto's hug and jumped back down onto the floor, landing right next to Mr. Tawarayama. He scampered over to the motionless body and dug himself underneath his arm. Within a second, Mr. Tawarayama bolted upward and stood tall, looking as alive as ever – nearly.

"Everything is fine," he said monotonously and commenced his ridged walking once again, as though nothing had happened.

"Are you sure?" a couple of people had asked him. He just shook them off multiple times explaining that he was, indeed, perfectly fine. Various people still stared in the direction of the old, inflexible man in a suit, carrying a pink wombat plush doll, and being followed around by a blonde little boy, but even those stares faded as a couple more minutes passed.

* * *

"When do we get our food?" Yumoto leaned across the table.

"We only just ordered it!" Atsushi exclaimed and gave the blonde a little laugh. He knew very few people who could eat quite as much as that boy.

"I know, but it just sounded so delicious and I want it already," Yumoto said as he latched his arm onto the person closest to him, who just happened to be Io.

"What are you doing?" Io asked him, staring down at Yumoto, gripping his arm.

"I'm just cuddling! I cuddle when I'm hungry," he explained, shuffling a little closer to an unsuspecting Io.

"Could you cuddle someone else, perchance?" Io suggested and tried to shake the boy off of him with minimal force.

"I guess so," Yumoto chimed with a grin and stood up from his chair to squished against En and Atsushi on the cushioned red seats.

He pressed in against Atsushi, pushing him to fall onto En. The blue-haired boy quickly reached out his hands to cushion his fall, but regretted it as soon as they made contact with En's chest. As the two connected, his fingers got caught in En's loose shirt, but he truly did not feel the need to brush them away. A deep blush blossomed across his cheeks as he looked up to meet En's slightly curious expression.

"I'm sorry," he muttered downward, where his eyes decided to now focus, far from his friend's intimidating face. He instantly tore his hands back and tucked them in between his knees, which was the only place that he felt he could keep them still. Only now did he realize how little space he had to move. Yumoto, who now seemed very excited and happy to finally be hugging someone who was not trying to squirm away, had pressed up against Atsushi in a way that gave him nearly no mobility at all. In a way, he was trapped. What made this worse was the fact that he was trapped in between his best friend, who it has been somewhat awkward and odd to be around recently, and Yumoto, who was dearly missing his daily cuddles of Wombat, and seemed to have replaced him with Atsushi's arm. Atsushi couldn't help but shiver in fright at that last thought. Who knew what exactly it was that Yumoto did with Wombat anyway?

"There, much better!" a loving smile now absorbed Yumoto's expression. He leaned in closer to Atsushi, which in turn made him lean into En. In that very moment. Atsushi dearly wished that he was not in Paris. It made him feel rather guilty to think this way, though. He was very grateful for this entire trip, for sure, but he truly hated that he was suddenly feeling so odd around his best friend. This was En, after all! How could he ever feel uncomfortable around him? Even when En had been under the control of a Loveless, Atsushi had wanted nothing more than for the two of them to be together again; to feel comfortable around each other and to be able to be near each other, talking as normal friends do. He had hated when En couldn't stand being near him at the time, but he was now doing the exact same thing.

Atsushi wondered for a moment whether this could be the work of yet another monster. That would explain a lot, especially considering that they were in Paris, a city that was bent on relationships, and these monsters seemed to target exactly this area of the human heart. Really, this was the most reasonable answer for everything that has been going on. But, then again, Atsushi knew that, Japan or not, they would be called to duty were there a monster in the area. It was more likely that they would not encounter any monsters during this trip at all. He only hoped that their troubles had been left at home, even if that did deflate his entire – and single – idea.

_When had I gotten so bad at sensing social situations?_ he wondered once more.

"So, what did you two do all day?" he finally asked as he turned to face Ryuu and Io, deciding that it was better to ignore his problem for now.

* * *

"At least we no longer have to walk," Ryuu sighed happily. As interesting as the sights had been on the way up, he was all too tired to enjoy it any longer. He was very glad to learn earlier on that it was not possible for tourists to walk up from the second floor to the third, and that it was necessarily for them to take the lift, were they to go to the third floor.

"You seem happy," Io pointed out, smiling a little but in Ryuu's direction.

"Why wouldn't I be?" he simply pointed out. He knew that each one of them – with the exception of Yumoto, who seemed to enjoy the exercise – was glad to finally be able to relax, without having to waste any time.

Io did not respond. He simply stared ahead, looking as though he was in the middle of calculating something of frustration. His expression changed to that of confusion and concentration, focusing on nothing particular before him. Ryuu only wondered what he was thinking about.

* * *

"What exactly is this?" Atsushi looked up at the boarder. Flag after flag appeared along the boarder, each with a large number to go along with it.

"How far away each country is from Paris, I suppose," En replied, waving his hand towards a couple of flags nearby.

"Oh, let's find Japan!" Yumoto called out and began running around the room.

Io turned away from the eccentric adolescent, gathering his camera instead. He wandered around the large room and moved towards the glass. Were he outside right now, he would be able to see nearly all of Paris in one single glare. Really, he knew that it was definitely worth it to walk up all those stairs. He only wished that everyone else would hurry up so that he could actually take in said view, which was only a stone's throw away. But, of course, they wanted nothing more than to look at a bunch of flags printed on the interior. He already knew the distance between Paris and Tokyo; that had been his first duty when he received the invitation to come on this trip.

"I found it!" Yumoto yelled, making multiple heads turn around to face them. Io felt as though he had gotten enough attention drawn to them thanks to him today already.

Atsushi and En turned to ran towards the little blonde, while Ryuu quickly turned off his pink phone and followed the three of them as well. As he did not want to be the last one left behind, Io followed them as well, if only to see if his research was correct. That, and the view that he was secretly so eager to see in person, which would move along much quicker if he only pushed the others forward a little bit.

Printed along the wall, conjointly with the flag of the rising sun, was a rather large number, just as he had expected.

"Wow, are we really that far away from Japan?" Yumoto exclaimed loudly and quickly took out his own camera, frantically taking picture after picture of the number.

"I suppose that's from Tokyo, right?" Atsushi wondered aloud.

"Most likely," said En.

Ryuu tapped his phone a couple of times before he began clicking away a couple of photographs as well. He turned the phone horizontally, taking two more shots before finally switching it off and placing it back in his pocket. Io decided that taking one picture himself wouldn't hurt anyone.

"Can we go outside?" Atsushi asked, already moving a little bit toward the way out.

"Sure," En answered and followed him. Many of their fellow classmates had already made their way outside and were already taking pictures of each other, with the lovely backdrop of Paris. Yumoto followed the two of them, leaving Ryuu and Io behind.

"So, this is the top, then?" Ryuu said and moved to stand closer toward Io.

"Well, some of it," Io admitted and turned towards Ryuu. He watched as Ryuu turned his phone on once more and extended it in front of them.

"Selfie?" He asked, but did not wait for the answer. He grinned widely for the camera and nudged Io to do the same. He didn't, though he couldn't help but give the screen a tight smile. Ryuu snapped the picture, at which point Io was ready to follow the others. Ryuu did not seem to think so, though, as he swiftly grabbed his arm and pulled him back, snapping a couple more selfies in the process. Io tried hard to not notice how he had nearly fallen over on Ryuu. He mentally praised his steady legs for keeping him upright.

Damn that Ryuu – he was definitely not making this easy for him.

"Why did you –" Io began, but Ryuu cut him off before he could continue.

"You can't just take one selfie! I mean, you can, but not on the Eiffel Tower," Ryuu explained. Io was about to ask him for the information he had to back that up, when Ryuu pulled at his arm – which he still hadn't let go of – and began dragging him over to where everyone else now stood.

Io pushed his way past all of the tourists that stood in their way, finding that Ryuu almost seemed to be throwing him at them on purpose. He apologized to person after person and tried hard to avoid further collisions, but he simply didn't want to wiggle out of Ryuu's grasp. He liked the feeling of Ryuu's hand around his arm and the protective sense that it seemed to give off. For some reason, even knowing this was Ryuu he was talking about made him feel somewhat safer; to know that he was not alone and there was someone else by his side.

* * *

"This is beautiful!" Ryuu yelled, throwing his arms up in the air, as though he could touch the sky itself. He had never seen anything like this. Even when they had been going up the stairs to the first and second floor, he didn't feel anything like this. Up here, he felt like he was on top of the world. Not that he has never been this high up before. It was the fact that Paris was spreading out beneath him, the horizon disappearing into an unknown distance. The sun would be setting soon, and this made the sky turn a startling shade of orange, illuminating the city in a golden glow.

"It is," he heard Io whisper beside him. Ryuu could tell that he was mesmerized as well. Beside him, Io seemed like he couldn't take his eyes off of the view, even if he wanted to. Somehow, seeing Io so happy and so amazed made Ryuu smile. It was almost adorable, the way his best friend's expression suddenly brightened and the way his eyes widened in delight at the sight. He felt himself giggle, to which Io gave an odd look before turning back towards the amazing view.

"This is great! It's like we're flying over Paris!" Yumoto began running around the viewing deck, laughing. Ryuu thought he truly did look like a little kid in that moment.

"It's so unbelievable," Atsushi agreed, facing En, who seemed equally amazed.

"Why didn't you tell me that it looked like this?" Ryuu asked Io, turning him over to face him.

"I didn't know," Io admitted, his voice still hazed. "This was a surprise for me as well."

"Thank you," Ryuu suddenly blurted out, silently enough for only Io to hear.

"For what?" Io placed his hand on his friend's shoulder, resting up against him in a way that wouldn't attract too much attention.

"It's because of you that I got to go on this trip, you know. I wanted to thank you for that," Ryuu said, "Without you, I would've never been able to come here."

He looked up to find Io blushing, trying to make sure that Ryuu didn't notice. However, he did notice, but this only made his own smile widen some more.

"No, really, it was all you!" he pushed on. For some reason, he wanted Io to continue blushing because of his praise. It made Io seem a more vulnerable and, well, more human and youthful, which was very different from his usual calm self. At least, Ryuu thought so, as he continued to visually admire his flustered friend.

"Maybe not on this trip," Io admitted, still trying to hide his blushing face. "But I know that you would have gotten here eventually."

"Maybe," Ryuu said, considering the possibility for a moment. "I really hope I can come back. I could even live here for a while in the future." This made Io look away from the view, exposing his blushed expression to Ryuu.

"Really?"

"Yeah! I'm sure that I can get a job somewhere, and I'm very good at going on strike!" Ryuu said enthusiastically.

Io rolled his eyes and gently pushed the pink-haired teen's shoulder away, giving Ryuu the kind of look that someone would give a little child who claimed that they were going to land on the .

"Wait, there's more!" Ryuu said before his friend could begin some sort of speech about the economy of Paris. "I could work in fashion, since I'm very good at that, as you can tell. And, being in the fashion world, I can meet many young girls looking for an independent man to help them with their season fashion," he explained.

"Young girls?" Io asked questionably.

"I meant, young women," Ryuu replied. "And yes, that's the plan," he said quickly, suddenly feeling a little bit off by his statement.

"Great plan," Io said and turned back towards the view. For a moment, Ryuu thought that he heard a hint of pain in Io's words, but brushed it off without a second thought. "Have you ever considered that men in the fashion business attract a different sort of attention?"

"What do you mean?" Ryuu asked. It did not take him long to realize what kind of attraction Io meant exactly. "Oh, come on," Ryuu snickered. "Like that would ever happen to me. I'm sure no one will think that! Paris is the City of Love and, if anyone belongs in such a city, then it's me."

"That doesn't mean that other men won't get the wrong idea," Io said, sounding a tad bit sad.

"Well, then that's too bad for them! The ladies just love me too much," Ryuu said, though, in full honesty, he was not feeling quite as confident with his words as he should be.

"Well, it does seem like the city for you," Io finally admitted, looking out and beyond.

"I know, right?" Ryuu exclaimed, expanding his arms in a dramatic manner, as though he was ready to take flight upon the city.

"Look, it's the Student Council," Io said casually, as though that fit directly into their previous conversation, and quickly pointed off to the distance at the three figures who stood along with the other tourists.

"Have they been here the entire time? They probably got here a long time before we did," Ryuu remarked.

"No, I remember them at dinner." Ryuu thought about it for a moment, but easily recalled seeing the three of them at their own separate table a while ago. Odd that they seemed to be missing from the rest of the class for nearly the entire trip today. He wondered whether they were still actually part of the class, or whether this was more like their own private vacation that just happened to be prepaid – with the exception of the money that went to all of those reservations, of course.

_Oh no_, he thought, _I'm beginning to sound like Io!_ Of course, he knew that this was a problem for another time.

"That's right," Ryuu finally said. He watched as Io turned back to peak at them again, but he himself was not focusing his attention on the Student Council. The sun seemed to dance off of Io's pale green locks, skimming his creamy skin and flickering across his eyes, which seemed to begin focusing back to the view. He had no idea why, but Ryuu couldn't stop but notice all of these things. Subconsciously, his hand began to reach towards the other boy, yearning for a simple touch of his silky skin or his adorably messy hairstyle, tousled by the wind. Suddenly, realizing what it was that he was doing, he pulled his hand away, reminding himself that by stroking his _male _ friend's hair, he probably would not be as popular with the ladies as he advertised.

"So," he finally spoke aloud, the pink-haired teen's voice anything but stable, "what do we do now?"

* * *

"It's still no fair that we couldn't have that wine," Ryuu mentioned for the tenth time that evening. He had been laying down on his bed ever since the class was taken back to the hotel and refused to get up, no matter how many times Io nagged him to go and take a shower. Io knew that it wasn't his fault; they'd had a rather active day.

"Do you think that the school would let their students drink under supervision?" Io reminded for what seemed like the hundredth time this evening.

"Hey, maybe we should go to a bar while we're here," Ryuu said, finally propping himself up on his bed.

"Maybe we shouldn't," Io countered, thinking of the terrible results, were they to get drunk and then caught by the supervisors.

"I don't know what you're worried about," Ryuu said as he sat up properly on his bed. "We can always ask Wombat to take Mr. Tawarayama and pose as our supervisor. We could totally get away with it," he explained, seeming so very proud of his plan.

"That's not the point," Io said with a laugh. Deciding to take matters into his own hands, he quickly walked over to the bathroom, grabbed the nearest towel, and threw it directly at Ryuu. It flew across the air and landed on top of his head with a careful swoop.

"What was that?" Ryuu asked as he pulled the towel off. He picked it us and dropped it neatly next to him. "Do I really smell that bad?"

"Kind of." Io shook his head and gestured for him to move on to the shower. "Trust me, we will both be much happier this way."

This made Ryuu take a couple whiffs of his armpits, finally realizing that maybe a shower was not that bad of an idea. He snatched the towel from the bed and made his way to the awaiting bathroom, shutting the door behind him as he entered.

Io sat down on his own bed and took his camera out of his bag. Sleeping was not really an option this early in the night and, having nothing better to do, he began looking through all of the pictures he and Ryuu had taken throughout the day. The first few were shots that Ryuu took while the two of them waited at the airport, which were followed by a few that were taken on the airplane. It surprised Io quite a bit when he happened upon one of him sleeping soundly against the photo's cameraman. When had he stolen his camera?

Of the ones that were actually taken in Paris, the first were only scenes of the Eiffel Tower, with a few odd ones of local parks. After that, the pictures suddenly began to change. The photographs began to include more and more shots of Ryuu and fewer ones of the Eiffel Tower itself. Ryuu seemed to only appear in them more often as the pictures went by. His smile seemed to brighten the entire scene, the light radiating off of him unlike anyone Io could imagine in that very moment. Even so, he felt as though the pictures did not do any true justice to Ryuu's actual smile; one that was always full of joy, even in moments when its beholder was not.

The sound of the shower being turned off seemed to bring Io back into reality. Quickly, he discarded the pictures behind his shoulder, not even bothering to look at where the little machine that held that actually went. The camera landed carefully along the bedspread, making Io feel a little bit as though he was getting rid of incriminating evidence. But, of course, that wasn't the case. What kind of evidence – and against what – could there be? For some reason, this made Io blush, his mind creating just a few scenarios where something like that could be considered evidence against a more indecent crime.

Just as Io's mind began to wonder into unknown – and, truthfully embarrassing – territories, Ryuu exited the bathroom. It took the green-haired boy a couple of seconds to register the fact that Ryuu was wearing nothing other than a towel and that his regularly fluffy hair was silken and wet, the thick water drops dripping down his shoulders and down his bare chest, dipping lower, until they reached the towel and trickled further.

"That was q-quick," Io stuttered, finding it more difficult to take his eyes away from the other than to keep them where they were.

"No it wasn't," Ryuu commented with amusement. "I was there for, like, thirty minutes."

"Were you really?" Io asked, actually meaning it.

"Yes, really. Why? Do I still look dirty?" Ryuu said. For a moment, Io thought he had heard him incorrectly.

And yet, all that he could think was, _"Shit,_ y_ou look so dirty, I can't even describe it._"

Just having these thoughts made him yelp aloud, as he moved to cover up his mouth. Damn it! Was the Parisian air ruining his mind? Was it the gasoline of the big city that clouded his thoughts? Was it because of those crafty Parisians, perverted minds and all? Was it also their fault that he had even concluded to stereotypes? For those few moments of internal conflict, he truly wanted to escape this city as fast as he possibly could.

Then again, people would probably turn heads were they to see a green-haired Japanese teenager running down the streets screaming, "Escape, perverted thoughts! Run Free! I banish you back into the void! Vamoose!" – the very same thoughts that were plaguing his mind as the various situations ran through.

Just as his mind seemed to have agreed on a mutual – and brief – peace, Ryuu gently began sliding the towel off. It seemed as though the last thing that kept Io's head from complete combustion was the direction in which Ryuu was turned. He momentarily thanked the gods for the opposite wall of the room, and how Ryuu decided to face that very wall. Only then did Ryuu look over his bare shoulder to catch Io's disturbed expression.

"Oh, I hope you don't mind," said Ryuu, making Io squirm. "I mean, I just kind of figured that it was okay, since we're always at the bathhouse together anyway."

The bathhouse! This made Io's expression perk up noticeably, hanging his lowered esteem on a different hook and replacing it with a heightened joy instead.

"That's right!" he said, though he hadn't realized that it had been aloud. "We're always nude at the bathhouse anyway, so it's completely fine to be nude around each other elsewhere!" By the time he recognized that his voice was echoing a lot more than it did in his head, it was too late to take back his somewhat odd words.

"That's good, I guess," Ryuu said, obvious not knowing how to respond at first. "I'm glad we both agree, then!"

It took a moment for it to sink into Io's head that he had a chance to get rid of these threatening and off-putting images once and for all, but he ruined it. He recognized this as a rather terrible business move in his part. Anyone who works with finances should know how to analyze an opportunity when it stands directly in front of them.

At that very moment, Io realized that he indeed did not feel quite as comfortable near the naked boy as he would regularly, when they went to the bathhouse, and would much rather be out in the hallway right now. Actually, he would generally prefer being anywhere else but in this room, at this very time.

"You know, I think I need some fresh air," Io said and winced, finding even his own lie hard to believe. After all, who got fresh air from a hotel hallway?

"Sure," Ryuu replied as he grabbed for his discarded pants. "Don't stay out too long."

"You needn't worry," Io winced. Leaving it at that, he ran for the door and quickly slammed it shut after him once he was in the hallway. He took a couple of steps before dropping down onto his knees and scooted over to sit by the wall.

At first, he considered going to either En and Atsuhi or Yumoto's room, but he realized that the first two would probably want their privacy and the remaining option seemed all too stressful to deal with, especially after such an adventurous day.

Instead, he simply relaxed against the wall and began to think through the recent events in his head. It seemed like such a long time for him to not be able to do so, and it felt nice to be able to think for once, without having someone else disrupting them. In a way, it seemed kind of ironic to him that he finally found a reason to be alone with his thoughts, only to have them disturbed by Ryuu – even if he was technically not even here. Unfortunately for Io, the other boy seemed like all that he could think about.

Io sighed as he let his mind take over and fill his head with Ryuu's little annoyances, which he had spent so much energy trying to avoid. He pressed his forehead to his knees and took another deep breath in. At least this way, no one was around to see his complete mess of an internal conflict, making him free to create his thoughts into anything that he wanted.

* * *

Ryuu quickly turned his head as Io's moping form stalked back into their hotel room, shutting the door carefully behind him.

"Back so soon?" Ryuu asked, even though Io had been out there for quite some time.

"Yes," muttered the figure, looking down at his feet as he wandered slowly to the bathroom.

"Are you okay?" Ryuu was quite uncertain over the thing that could only be described as his best friend's husk before him. There was definitely something weird going on with him, and that was more than just the darkness that shadowed him as he stumbled and opened the door to the water closet.

"Yes," Io muttered monotonously, sounding more like a recording than a human being. "I'm just going to take a nice cold shower. I think I might be dirty as well." His posture seemed unchanged as he threw the door closed and turned the shower on.

_What's going on with him? _Ryuu wondered. _The jet lag must be getting to him, I guess._

Without another thought, he went to lie down on his bed and tucked himself under the thick covers. The last thing he heard before going under was the sound of Io's shower and, for some reason, a couple of slightly pained noises coming from that very room.

_Shouldn't have taken a cold shower,_ Ryuu thought and laughed. Wasn't Io supposed to be the smart one? He closed hid eyes and tried to focus more on the sounds of the city outside of his window before drifting away into the world of dreams.

* * *

"Io?"

He turned around as he heard his own name being whispered by the room's other occupant.

"What?" he whispered back.

"Are you asleep?" the other boy asked, though Io thought that the answer was pretty obvious.

"Yes."

"Are you sure?" Ryuu asked again. Io could tell that the other was fully awake and ready, even though he couldn't see anything in the dark.

"Yes," he answered, wanting nothing more in that moment than to go back to sleep.

"I think you're lying," Ryuu replied as Io heard the sound of sheets moving, barely making out the shape of the other turning over to face him on his bed.

"What tipped you off?" Io grumbled. He was really not in the mood for midnight chats right now – at midnight!

"I can't sleep," whispered the other.

"Maybe it would help if you stopped talking," he suggested. He briefly recalled his own attempts of sleep merely a couple of hours ago, when he found Ryuu drifting away on his own bed, while Io tried to make peace with the sleeping, snoring company that was his roommate.

"Very funny," Ryuu whispered in the dark. "You know, I've never really been this far away from Japan before," he mentioned quietly. "You have, right?"

"Yes, now can you go to sleep?" Io whispered back, his eyes beginning to flutter. For some reason, hearing Ryuu's warm whisper seemed to have the same effect on his stomach. He was so glad to be too tired in this moment to allow his mind to go in any other direction than sleep.

"Sorry," Ryuu answered him, twisting around to face the ceiling instead of Io.

A couple of minutes turned into many, and Io began to wonder whether Ryuu was really unable to sleep after all. The pink-haired teen still faced the ceiling, though Io could hear from his quick little breaths that he was very much awake.

"Ryuu," Io called out softly into the darkness.

"Now who won't go to sleep?" Ryuu said, though his tone was playful.

"I can't sleep," Io repeated and smiled to himself.

"See? This room must be cursed or something." Ryuu turned away from the ceiling and went to face Io once more. This time, Io could see him rather clearly. He was smiling, his hair falling carelessly over his forehead.

Io faced the boy as well, looking directly into his eyes over the meter of space that separated them. He smiled a tight grin and his friend smiled back at him, giving Io a nice feeling of comfort and safety. He wondered how he, and anti-social, shy teenager, ever came to become best friends with such an energetic, confident young man, so different from himself. Just the fact that the two of them were currently on a vacation in Paris, sharing a room – no, that was not what he meant! Not at all! - was an amazing enough social achievement that it bested all of the other opportunities like this that he had ever been given.

"We can ward off the evil," Ryuu suggested, giving the other a little laugh. Io was about to comment on this _idea_, when he saw Ryuu shifting on his bed. He began to extend his arm, reaching out in the direction of Io's bed.

Io did not have to ask what this was; he knew well enough to figure it out on his own. Then again, that did not stop him from questioning it.

"What are you doing?" He could clearly see Ryuu's flushed expression in the very dim light that barely escaped the heavy drapes.

"Well, you know, evil spirits and all, it's safer in numbers, right?" Ryuu said, a hint of fear threatening his tone.

Io stared at the outstretched hand before him and, before he could even consider the circumstances, placed his own hand gently into Ryuu's. The moment their skin touched, Io felt a sudden burning had tried so hard to avoid. The softness of Ryuu's fingers and the warm grip that he had him in did not help in the slightest. A small part of his mind wondered whether Ryuu had the same reaction to their touch as he did.

"Go to sleep," a now flustered Io called out at the boy holding his hand, who responded by gripping his hand tighter. "I'm serious."

"Seriously serious?" Ryuu's voice suddenly seemed more calm and composed than it had before, pulling Io's hand closer to his side a little more.

It seemed that neither one of them wanted to ask the other whether their current situation was awkward or even somewhat odd, and Io was thankful for that. He really did not want to think of how he would answer that kind of question, were he asked. It was a good thing that Ryuu did not seem to have an answer for that either, or else these current circumstances would suddenly indeed be very awkward and very odd for the both of them.

A loud yawn escaped Io's lips, reminding him of what time it was and what time he would be forced to wake up in a couple of hours. Without letting go of Ryuu's hand, he curled up at his pillow and calmly closed his eyes. Briefly, he opened one to check on his friend only to see him doing the very same. He could just barely make out a smile that still remained upon his expression.

With one final yawn, the two of them fell asleep, their hands still holding onto each other between them, completely unaware of their partially opened door way and a third pair of eyes hiding in the darkness.

* * *

**A/N: I am sorry that this took such a long time to actually write! I meant for this to be a short chapter that just kind of described their first afternoon in Paris, but that really didn't work out...**

**I know that this was a pretty boring chapter, but I promise that the next ones will be more interesting! :)**

**Note: Every description of the Eiffel Tower above is based on my own experiences, so none of it is a result of poor internet searches, just my poor memory. The same goes for all French phrases used in this fan fiction, since I can read and speak french, but it's Quebecquois French, so beware! **

**Thank you very much for reviewing and following this story! I really appreciate reviews and love reading them, so feel free to leave one at any time! Any ideas or suggestions that you might have are greatly appreciated and I would love to hear them! For example, I would really like to pair Yumoto off with someone, but I'm not quite sure who...**

**Also, if you find ANY mistakes at all, please tell me so that I can fix them. **

**(I will write shorter A/N's in the future, I promise!)**


	4. L'Air est Lourd

**A/N: I'm sorry for not updating sooner. It usually bothers me a lot when fan fiction authors take so long to write a new chapter, but the past few months have been very busy for me! I went on holiday, had language classes, a whole lot of other classes as well, a convention, and then went on holiday once more. This time of year is always when things begin to pile up. :)**

* * *

"So, who exactly will be your new roommate anyway?" Ryuu asked, swirling his coffee around with a small teaspoon.

"I don't know yet. I was just told that Kinosaki would be moving out, since Tazawa wouldn't leave him alone and you can't have three people sharing two beds," explained Yumoto, though his words sounded more rehearsed than they would coming from his own mind.

"Did they report you to the supervisors?" Io asked in such a manner which heavily suggested that he already knew the answer to his so-called question.

"How did you know?" Yumoto called out excitedly. "They said that they didn't really like the idea of nightly slumber parties, no matter how often I told them how fun it would be." He paused for a moment. "Maybe they didn't like that I snuggled them in the night? Or that wom-san was so ready to join the cuddle-puddle either."

"No, they probably didn't," Atsushi said and sighed. Only Yumoto could be kick out of his own sleeping arrangements on their first night in Paris.

As Yumoto continued to converse with the table about other crazy ideas he had planned for his previous room-mates, Io felt himself beginning to drift away into the sound of his friends' melding voices. It was no lie that he barely got any sleep the night before, but it was also not the complete truth. He slept very comfortably and, in a strange way that only his own mind could see, safely – which he always found very hard to outside of the comfort of his own home – but, he still managed to get the maximum amount of sleep that he needed the night before. He woke up several times during the early – very, _very _early – morning, and the combined time he spent to get back to sleep seemed to have added up in his daily counting.

All of a sudden, the phone in his pocket began to vibrate. It vibrated a couple of times before settling back into stillness. Surprisingly enough, this was enough to bring Io back to the present, as he reached into his pocket for his device.

He clicked the phone on and instantly saw that he received a message from one of the many texting applications that Ryuu insisted he downloaded onto his phone. Who in their right mind would be texting him at this time? Every one of his contacts was either in Japan, where it was still night, or visiting other places around the world, where they would have better things to do than text him. Of course, none of these people would ever actually text him if they could email or, better yet, say what they need to in person.

**PrinceOfPink: **Have you ever noticed how weird my name sounds in English?

As usual, it was Ryuu. For a moment, Io wondered how he could get service in Paris, until he realised that this particular texting application was using the free resources of the hotel internet.

**TheArtOfMoney:**Why are you texting me when I am sitting just a meter away from you?

**PrinceOfPink:** Because I can, and it's easier this way! (^-^)

Io didn't even try to argue Ryuu's weak logic. He knew that, no matter what he said, he was always up for anything that didn't cost him any money, and seeing as the internet in this hotel was included with room, he would be wasting an excellent opportunity.

**TheArtOfMoney:** So, what is this about your name?

**PrinceOfPink: W**ell, in English it's "The Thrilling Prince" That sounds kind of suggestive, doesn't it?

**TheArtOfMoney:** If you're American, then I suppose.

**PrinceOfPink:** I could be American! :)

**TheArtOfMoney:** There's nothing stopping you, is there? Nothing at all. Not even the fact that you're Japanese, living in Japan, and learning most of your English from American television shows and films that haven't been translated.

**PrinceOfPink: **Where do you think English-speakers learn English then? huh?

**TheArtOfMoney:** Is this why you texted me?

**PrinceOfPink:** NO! I was just bored and all. So, where are we going today anyway?

**TheArtOfMoney:** Like I said before, we have classes today for the entire first morning and then, after that, we have a couple of free hours.

**PrinceOfPink:** Crap, classes XD So, can we take the train to class? Or the tube or whatever they call it here.

**TheArtOfMoney: **Metro. And, sure, if you really want to. I just don't see why. They're not going to be the same as in Japan, just so you know.

**PrinceOfPink:** Well obviously! That's the point!

"Do you two ever get disconnected from the web and into the real world?" Asushi asked with a laugh as the two boys lifted their attention from their phones.

"Why live in the real world when you can live in the container of all knowledge known to man?" Ryuu called out victoriously before going back to his phone

**PrinceOfPink: **Ain't that the truth :d

"Actually, Ryuu is just texting me about what we're all doing today," Io answered, feeling as though his answer would clear up quite a bit more than Ryuu's did.

"Seriously?" En asked as a smirk grew over his expression.

"Well, typing comes as a first nature to me," Ryuu explained, giving his confusing and generally meaningless input once more.

"Really? That's amazing!" Yumoto said cheerfully, not caring whether Ryuu was joking or not. It amazed Io how similar these two could really be when they thought that no one would notice, and then how much Ryuu would deny their similarities whenever the topic arose.

Only then did Io suddenly realised what time it was, and the amount of time that it would take to actually get to their class, which would not work in their favour unless they left as soon as they could.

"We have to get going soon," he pointed out and stood up from his seat.

"Already?" Ryuu quickly drowned down the remainder of his coffee and began to slowly get up as well.

"Are you sure?" En asked, already moving to pull out their trip pamphlet from his bag. Next to him, Atsushi checked his watch and, before En had a chance to unzip his bag, pulled at his sleeve.

"He's right. You wanted to go walking with me, didn't you? We have to hurry if we're going to make it there on time," he explained, gently drawing light circles in the taller boy's arm.

"You make a compelling point," En answered with a small smile.

"Alright, you two enjoy your... walk. Ryuu and I need to get going to the metro," Io announced, casually pulling Ryuu by the sleeve and just a little bit closer towards the exit. Ryuu took the hint quickly enough and began to make his way out of the cafe, Io following close behind.

"I still don't understand why you wanted to take the metro so badly," Io commented once they exited the cafe.

"First of all, I don't feel like walking," he said. "And, second of all, we might as well take the train if we're here. Wouldn't it get us to class faster?"

"That depends," he answered, leading Ryuu past the streets that he had memorised from the maps. "I guess we'll have to see."

The two of them walked the rest of the way in silence. Or, Io did. It appeared that Ryuu was even more amazed with how the city looked today than he had been yesterday, as he kept gasping and pointed at every second building that they passed. Almost as if fulfilling the Japanese stereotype, he took a picture of every single thing he spotted. He didn't want to admit it, but every single time that Ryuu would

laugh or gasp or click his camera with a successful smile, he felt himself turning to see the young man, wanting to catch him with the adorable expression he always wore when he was so proud of his own work. Maybe the metro really was a good idea after all.

Ryuu lowered his camera as the two of them reach a large staircase that lead into the ground, with the red metro sign above it. Io went in first and Ryuu quickly followed behind, catching up to him at the bottom of the stairs.

"It kind of smells in here, doesn't it?" Ryuu said, testing the air with his nose.

"Not as much as I would've thought, no," Io answered and quickly went to the nearest service station to purchase their tickets. Before long, the two of them found themselves walking through the tiled hallways and onto the platform.

"The next train is in five minutes," Io pointed out, though he realised that Ryuu was already on his phone once again.

"Put that away. Do you know how many pickpockets there are around here?" What he didn't want to mention was that Ryuu should take better care of his possessions and, of course, his completely unguarded and vulnerable wallet.

"Okay, fine," he said and slowly put his phone back in his bag, which, after a quick glare from Io, he held onto a little tighter than before.

"You can be so careless sometimes," Io said, though he tried to use the gentlest voice that he could. A blush spawned against the pink-haired boys cheeks as he looked away with slight embarrassment. Io could feel blood rushing to his face as well and, no matter how much he tried to keep his expression as neutral as possible, he knew that there was no denying the red that now brushed his cheeks.

To Io, five minutes had never lasted quite so long before. It was quite amusing how a little bit of embarrassment – though even that needed justification - could play such a role in time. What was he embarrassed of anyway? He had no idea. Possibly for being the wet blanket that his group probably considered him as. But that was truly no reason for time to slow down, he knew.

Finally, after what seemed to be much longer than a mere three hundred seconds, the tube had come to their platform. Ryuu quickly latched himself onto Io, preparing for the usually filing of citizens into trains found when visiting Tokyo. He looked quite surprised to see that this was not quite the same. Sure, many people had walked out and many more had entered, but even though there was a push here and there, it was not how he had pictured it at all. Io peaked over at his out-of-place expression and gave him a small smile.

"Are you coming?" he asked and nudged Ryuu onward, ahead of him.

"This is kind of... different," he said and walked onward.

"Isn't it? I'm sure it looks more like Tokyo when it's rush hour. We're not here early enough to see people getting to work in the morning," Io pointed out as they both reached to take hold of the nearest strap.

Even though the lack of pushing had been present outside of the train, as they had gone straight into one of the centre carts, they found that there were still quite a few people crammed around them. An elderly woman sat on one of the farthest seats, flipping through the daily paper, while a young girl stood tall nearby, checking her phone with a seemingly annoyed expression. A couple of obvious American tourists sat right next to Ryuu and Io, overlooking a map of Paris. Io wondered whether the two of them looked like the American tourists as well. Sure, they had bags with them, but those could just as easily be worn as a fashion statement here as they could in Japan. Not to mention that they carried their notebooks and other necessities inside. They were dressed closely enough to Europeans as well, unlike the usual tourists. While he continued to ponder this idea, he had not noticed that an accordion player had joined their cart at the next station.

"That's new," Ryuu said as he watched the man, sitting down at the last empty seat and playing his instrument for the whole of the group to hear.

"Isn't this all new?" Io said with a smile. It was true, he was not used to people playing accordions in trains or metros of any kind.

"He's good." It was true. The man playing was quite talented, Io noticed, and it somehow made the ride somewhat more comfortable, even though the smell of the sweating people, dressed clean and proper for the day, was starting to fill the air.

"He is," he finally said and turned back to face Ryuu.

All of a sudden, the girl on her phone growled something harsh in French and threw her hand up in the air. Catching him off guard, the hand came in contact with the back of Ryuu's head, making him jump at the surprising touch. Thrown off his balance, he stumbled and fell forward, directly at Io. He threw his hands ahead of him and, quickly enough, they caught the wall behind Io's head. Meanwhile, Io, who had just as equally been startled by Ryuu's fall, reached his hands out to catch him. Ryuu found his balance just as Io's hand caught the front of his shirt.

"Are you alright?" Io asked hastily.

"Yes, sorry, I'm fine," Ryuu said as he focused on his stance. His hands, on either side of Io's head, pressed as much into the wall as they could as to not slip. Io's hands were carefully gripping the front of Ryuu's shirt, almost as if to get balance for himself, even though he was standing as still as he always did. Ryuu's eyes met Io's in an instant, and he could see the way that brief shock quickly dissolved into something else. Something rather odd that he hadn't seen on the other boy before. Io did not even think of his fingers, standing their ground upon Ryuu's shirt, or the way that Ryuu's hands inconveniently and coincidentally entrapped him.

Ryuu felt something stir in his stomach. Before him, Io had such an odd look on his face that he couldn't quite place it. Was it of shock? Was it worry? Looking at Io as he was now, trapped between his arms, without the rest of the world as disturbances, he began to notice a few things that he hadn't before. He hadn't realised that it was as hot in the metro before as he did now. He noticed that a few drops of sweat had began to form on Io's forehead, making a couple of green strands of hair stick to his skin. He also noticed that, in moments like these, Io let his guard down and allowed the world to see an expression other than that of your local banker. The final thing he had taken notice of was the presence of Io's hands on his chest, which had suspiciously begun to heat up at a rather faster rate. He didn't want to admit it out loud, but he lived for moments like these, when Io would drop his defenses and show his self as Ryuu remembered him in their childhood. Sure, he had been a bit of a prude sometimes, but he smiled, laughed, giggled, cheered, and cried as any normal child would.

Io recognised that the two of them had been in this odd position – one pressed against the wall, his hands on the other's chest – for a bit longer than they really should have, and quickly came to think that people might have begun staring. He slowly tore his eyes away from Ryuu's and examined the rest of the cart.

Very few people had been disturbed by the girl on her cellphone, as her outburst was muffled enough by the accordion, still playing a merry tune. The only person who noticed them at all was the elderly woman in the back, who had placed her paper down for a moment to readjust her glasses. When she noticed that Io saw her staring, she smiled and gave him a quick thumbs up before going back to her newspaper. He could do nothing but smile back, though he altogether confused at what exactly had occurred between the old woman and him. He was smart enough to figure it out within a few seconds.

His hands were still entwined in Ryuu's shirt, for some reason, and so he removed them before anyone else got the wrong idea. He quickly pulled Ryuu's hands away from the wall, letting them drop at his sides, allowing him to move about more freely. Ryuu did not look quite as frustrated as he knew he was momentarily looking, though he did see a dark blush coming into bloom on his face, to which he assumed he was matching.

"Sorry, it's just that, well we don't want people getting the wrong idea or anything, do we?" Io said, his thoughts attempting to form into sound, as he turned away from Ryuu's beckoning eyes.

"Of course. Gross," Ryuu relied back quickly, running a hand over his eyes. "Are we almost there?"

In their odd little escapade, Io hadn't noticed that they were just about to miss their station if they didn't hurry up and get out of the train. He took a hold of Ryuu's hand and, seeing as there was really no time to explain, dragged him through the door, which was seconds from closing. Well, maybe not seconds. Ryuu got the idea swiftly enough, following Io out the door, onto the platform, just barely obeying the words of the electronic voice requesting that people mind the gap.

"So, I take it we're here? Or did you just get bored with the train and take a chance?" Ryuu called out just as the tube began to leave its station.

"Well, it is closer from here than from the other station anyway," Io mumbled to himself, completely ignoring Ryuu's comment. He strutted onwards, barely giving Ryuu a glance to check whether he had followed or not. As they walked through the platform, Io finally took a nice sniff of the scent surrounding them, getting a nice whiff of the ever-so lovely Parisian underground air, which smelled a great deal of public toilets and some other questionable substances.

"So this is what Paris smells like, then?" Ryuu asked, also catching the same interesting _melange_ of smells.

"Yes," Io answered, still seemingly unwilling to make eye-contact with his pink-haired follower. What exactly had happened there in the carriage? Such an odd thing to happen, really. What had Ryuu thought when it did, though, Io couldn't help but wonder. And why did he consider it so gross for someone to be mislead by such a random incident.

The two of them walked through one of the exits, going through a somewhat crowded area to continue their way upward a spiraling staircase, looking much past its days.

"This is kind of old, isn't it?" Ryuu said as his footsteps echoed on the metal.

"It should be."

"All of Paris looks pretty old, anyway," Ryuu said, almost as though he was desperately trying to make some sort of conversation. Io couldn't help but wonder whether he really was that flustered by some little thing that had happened on the tube, or whether he was simply over-thinking things too much. No, he probably was. Ryuu wouldn't care about something like that, would he? And neither of them should either way. But then why couldn't Io get it out of his mind; the way that Ryuu stood so close, trapping him, the two of them breathing the same air, thick and heavy with something that he couldn't quite place.

"I-it is old," he quickly said before he could think of anything else, even though he could hear how his voice shook as he did so.

"It's so weird. So many battle must have been fought for this city; so many battles must have happened right here. And now here we are, walking around it, taking pictures, going on holiday," Ryuu said in a dream-like state, looking around at the interesting architecture of the underground that looked like something straight from the Victorian Era.

"This isn't a holiday. It's school," Io corrected him,as they stepped off of the stairs and exited the station to the ground above.

"Right, right. Way to make being Paris seem boring," Ryuu said with a laugh. In front of him, Io had stopped, looking in both directions. "I hope you know which way to go."

"Obviously," Io said, though he didn't sound all too convincing. "I can figure it out."

Ryuu gently hit his shoulder, making a noise of utter defeat, "You don't know? You're our only hope of getting there on time, you know!" He carefully rested his hand on Io's shoulder, over the place where he had playfully slapped him moments before, and Io made no moves to stop him.

"One second, I'll just check my phone," Io said, taking his trusted device out.

As he was clicking away on his mobile, a young couple quickly walked by and paused in front of them. A young man and woman, Io noticed as he looked away from his phone, both quite pale.

"Excuse me," the woman said in accented English. "_Snakker du norsk eller engelsk?_"

Ryuu was dumbfounded. What were they saying, and what language was that? German, most likely. He quickly patted Io on the shoulder, not knowing what to say.

"_Ja, _English," Io answered, not even blinking an eye.

"That's good," the woman said with a smile. "Do you know where this address is, please?" She took a piece of paper from the man by her side, flipping it over to show him. Io looked it over and then looked back to his phone.

"Keep going that way," he said, pointing to the left, "then turn right at the third exit, keep going until you hit this street," he continued, showing them the street on his phone.

"Thank you very much," The woman said with a smile, "It is very nice of you." She paused for a moment, looking momentarily embarrassed before looking back at Io. "May I ask where you are from?"

"We are from Japan," Io answered, carefully tugging Ryuu forward from his side.

"Japan. That is very far away. I would very much like to go there some day," she said and pointed to the man next to her. "He would as well. We are from Norway, so it is expensive to travel to Asia," she laughed.

"Yes, I would think it is," Io said and smiled. "But travelling around Europe is cheap, right?"

"Yes, and it is a very good thing for those of us from the north who want to see the south sometime as well," she answered. The man quickly said something to her before gesturing to his watch. "That's right, we should be going now." Before the two of them went to leave, they gave Io and Ryuu kind smiles and a wave.

"Oh, I meant to say," the woman paused one more time, "The two of you make a very sweet couple."

It took Io a moment to process her words, even with his rather good comprehension of the English language. A couple? Did she mean that they make a good pair? But how would she know that; she had only spoken to one of them. A couple? Did she mean to say a romantic kind of couple? No, that would be ridiculous, that some Norwegian lady thought them to be a couple. Really, no one could make that assumption. Only then did he notice that Ryuu still had his hand on his shoulder, and that Io himself had grabbed onto Ryuu's shirt to pull him up front.

"A couple?" Ryuu said in a slightly faint voice. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"What do you think?" Io said in an equally threatened voice.

"How funny!" He may have said that, but the forced laugh that followed Ryuu's words made it obvious that this was not what he really thought.

"Right."

"So, what language was that anyway?" Ryuu suddenly asked, looking for a change of subject.

"Norwegian."

"What? How do you know Norwegian? It doesn't exactly seem like the language they would teach at school."

"German. Once you know German, the others are easy," Io explained. It was basic information really, though he didn't really expect Ryuu to know that. "Germany is still a superpower in Europe, you know. It's Europe's engine. Knowing German, in the world of business, is a very useful bonus."

"Oh, I see."

Finally remembering the misconception of the Nordic woman, he pushed Ryuu's hand off of his shoulder and swiftly began to walk onward.

"Wait," Ryuu called after him, quickly catching up. "Where are you going?"

"Well, you don't want to be late to class, do you?"

* * *

"Can I ask you a question?" Io said as he settled on his bed, opening up the notes he had made in class.

"Sure," Ryuu said, turning off his phone.

"Did you really understand any of the English I used this morning when I spoke with that woman?" he asked, facing his room-mate.

"Sure I did! I told you, I'm good at English," Ryuu said with a grin, "Though I do admit I got a but confused on a few words. Also, it turns out I'm not so good at French," he said with another smile.

"You aren't?" asked Io, though he didn't sound all that surprised.

"No. All I know are things like, '_C'est bon!_' or _'Tu fais l'amour et je t'aime, mon cher._' and that's about it. I was really lost in class today," Ryuu ecplained and briefly caught sight of Io blushing.

"I see. When did you learn that? We definitely didn't learn that in class, and I thought you didn't know any French anyway," Io mumbled.

"I don't really know any convenient French; I just learned that from films," Ryuu said with a suspicious grin.

"What kind of films have you been watching?" Io asked suddenly, though he didn't really want to hear the answer to that question.

"Wouldn't you just like to know?" Ryuu said and laughed.

"Not really, no," Io said under his breath, though he felt his face heating up. This seemed to happen a lot lately, didn't it? Ever since that dream – memory. Oh god, that memory. He didn't even want to think about that right now. No, definitely not now.

"Aw, you're no fun. Not unless money's involved, anyway. Then you go completely mad!" Ryuu seemed to be in a good mood, Io noticed – not even pausing to check his phone mid-sentence. No, he was in a fair mood, though he didn't know why.

"Hey, Ryuu, you know how that couple today said they wanted to visit Japan some day?" Ryuu nodded, and so Io continued. "Well," he said, "where would you like to visit? I mean, other than Paris? Where would you really like to go someday?"

"Off the top of my head? Well, America, obviously. I would really like to see Los Angeles. Or maybe New York. But I would also really like to go to England. You know, they have all that tea and the Queen and everything. I think that would be really nice too. Going to London or someplace like that," Ryuu said and turned to face Io better. "What about you?"

"London is very nice," Io said and paused to think further. "I would like going to the UK in general, but really, if it was anywhere in the world, I would fancy going to Iceland. Sometime in the middle of winter, while the country is completely covered in snow. The idea of relaxing in a hot spring under the open night sky just sounds so peaceful and isolated," he admitted dreamily.

"That does sound nice, actually. I never thought of that – I'm more of the city guy myself. But, even so, that does sound pretty grand," Io saw Ryuu close his eyes briefly, almost as though he was imagining it himself.

Io moved to lie back on his bed, looking up at the ceiling. He could see Ryuu doing the same thing on his own bed, which brought a light smile upon his lips. He was very surprised when, all of a sudden, Ryuu turned to face him and reached out his hand, waiting for Io to take it. He did.

"Someday," Ryuu said, blushing madly, "the two of us can go Iceland. It's no fun going alone, you know."

Io imagined what it would be like to go somewhere like that with Ryuu. Sure the whole element of isolation, peace, and quiet would be gone, but the idea was still somehow very appealing. The weight of his hand in Ryuu's settled a deep heat in his stomach, making him imagine Ryuu holding his hand the every same way as they would hopefully someday walk down the streets of Reykjavik.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Io said with a whisper. "We're in Paris – let's not start planning about going somewhere else quite yet." He noticed that Ryuu's thumb had begun rubbing slow, in-deliberate circles over Io's hand, spread heat in its wake.

"Hey," Ryuu said with an embarrassed smile, "You're the one who brought it up in the first place."

"Yes, it seems I did."

* * *

**A/N:** **I apologise for such a boring chapter. There really was no content here, and I have bigger plans for the next chapter, which was originally part of this chapter, but I felt like that would have dragged on for too long. **

**I very recently visited Paris and have re-acquainted myself with the city, therefore these following chapters will make a lot more sense. Originally, this chapter had more references to 'minding the gap between the carriage and the platform,' but I was reminded that the French are not quite as obsessed with that as the English! XD**

**I also love Norwegian and simply had to put some in here! It is one of my favourite languages, though I love all of the Nordic languages! They're all so beautiful. :)**

**As always, if I have made any mistakes at all, please tell me so that I can correct them! **


End file.
